Originally published in print in November 2025. View print issues here.

When Natalie Vasquez heard about the recent claims made by the Trump administration and Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoting the unproven link between the use of the drug acetaminophen — commonly sold as Tylenol — during pregnancy and autism in children, it stoked fear and anxiety in her.

Vasquez, a senior, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when she was just two years old. Having autism has influenced how she interacts and communicates with others, making real-world situations more complicated to navigate. And yet, despite the challenges she faces every day, many people are unaware she has it.

Vasquez does what’s called “masking,” meaning she camouflages into society. The mechanism allows her to interact with her peers without any fear of standing out. Vasquez is on the low to moderate end of the autism spectrum, which defines the amount of support individuals with ASD need on a day-to-day basis. After receiving support or therapy, individuals on this end of the spectrum can blend into society with little to no additional difficulties.

However, the distinction of low to more severe autism vanishes with the recent claims President Trump has made regarding ASD. In a statement made earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that autism was an “epidemic” growing at an alarming rate, prompting the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate the environmental causes of autism.

The mischaracterization of ASD by the current presidential administration has incited fear in Vasquez for how she and others like her may be perceived for having autism.

“I’ve been distraught on the amount of claims and the people supporting these claims without it being scientifically proven or medically confirmed,” Vasquez said. “I don’t want to be seen as different or someone with special needs. Autism comes in a variety [of forms].”

The claims made by the Trump administration have also concerned Jessica Iwamoto, a parent to a Branham student and a behavioral therapist for families with children on the spectrum. When she heard about the claims made by President Trump last month conflating the use of Tylenol during pregnancy with autism in children, she immediately worried about how this misinformation could affect pregnant women.

“I am very, very concerned about this,” Iwamoto said. “If mothers decide not to take Tylenol because they’re afraid their child is going to have autism, it could lead to other things during her pregnancy that are far more harmful than any Tylenol would have been.”

For her, the Trump administration’s claims about ASD hurt especially more as it impacts how families process their child being diagnosed.

“In many cases, the hardest thing for parents is to accept the reality of what their child’s future might look like because of this autism diagnosis,” Iwamoto said. “This diagnosis, while it’s not a [life] sentence, sometimes parents can perceive it that way.”

Now more than ever, Iwamoto fears consequences for how those claims can feed into misconceptions about people with autism and families with autistic children.

At Branham, battling misconceptions and prejudice around ASD has also been an issue for Kahkiti Foyn, a special education aide who provides support for students — many of whom have ASD — who require additional help during class.

“The people that are saying these things are trying to make it seem more harmful than it is,” Foyn said. “It’s been around forever. We just never had a name for it.”

Foyn disliked the way the President and his administration characterized ASD negatively and used rhetoric that promotes fear rather than providing useful information.

“It almost feels like they’ve never experienced people with it, so they’re just creating their own narrative and scaring the population,” Foyn said. “It’s not something to be feared.”

Illustration by Amelia Martorano