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Back in the 1940s, psychiatrist Leo Kanner began his exploration into the roots of autism. His main target? Parents. He characterized their parenting style as creating what he termed “emotional refrigerators.” A Time magazine article about Kanner’s views was even titled “Frosted Children,” describing children who initially appeared “normal” but later seemed “apathetic, withdrawn, happiest when left alone.”
Outside of that article, Kanner primarily shared his findings in academic journals. Later, Bruno Bettelheim, another child psychiatrist, further spread the notion that emotionally unavailable mothers (and sometimes overly demanding fathers) caused autism. His popular 1967 book, “The Empty Fortress,” suggested that parents who neglected their children’s emotional needs contributed to the development of autism.
This so-called “refrigerator mother” myth gained significant traction—almost like a virus, really—and was used as a reason to separate children from their families, leading to increasingly harsh treatment methods. It took a long time for this idea to fade away. Yet, now it seems the Trump administration may be gearing up for a revival of blaming mothers for their children’s autism.
During a memorial service for Charlie Kirk, President Trump declared that “we found an answer” regarding autism’s causes. The following day, he was joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, and numerous medical professionals and parents to assign blame to mothers who take acetaminophen during pregnancy. Trump specifically noted that using the pain reliever could significantly increase autism risk, stating, “So taking Tylenol is not good.”
Over the years, there have been a number of studies examining the potential link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism rates. Some found very slight correlations. However, a comprehensive study involving 2.4 million Swedish children from 1995 to 2019 concluded that “acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability.”
Tara Smith, an epidemiology professor at Kent State University, shared her thoughts on Trump’s recent press conference. She stated, “As a scientist, it was one of the worst things I’ve seen since Trump’s ‘inject bleach’ moment.” In an email, she expressed that the conference was riddled with misinformation and insinuations that scientists were hiding data or ignoring inconvenient inquiries. “In reality,” she continued, “the questions about autism and vaccines and autism and acetaminophen have been asked and answered.” She believes that, unless new evidence arises, this should conclude the discussion.
