President Donald Trump and Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a major announcement on autism Sept. 22, prompting widespread reaction. USA TODAY readers share theirs in our latest installment of the Opinion Forum.

For this installment of Forum, we wanted your thoughts on the claims by President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that Tylenol taken by pregnant women could cause autism in their children. And on Trump and Kennedy's promotion of leucovorin for autism treatment, though the drug has not been scientifically proven useful in that way.

Your responses showed you overwhelmingly disagreed with the two leaders – which was in line with a recent poll that showed only 15% of Americans believe there's a Tylenol-autism link.

Many of you cited health experts who also disagreed. That included the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which responded the same day as the Sept. 22 statements by Trump and Kennedy and said the attempt to link acetaminophen (Tylenol's active ingredient) to autism is "highly concerning" and "irresponsible." Pregnant women who are suffering headaches or fever have few options besides acetaminophen and not treating a fever can lead to birth defects, health experts say.

Read a collection of these responses below, or send in your own to forum@usatoday.com.

Trump thinks I need to be cured. I don't.

As an autistic person, my first reaction to the announcement by President Donald Trump and and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a deep sigh and an eye roll big enough to cause a small weather event. We’ve been here before. Vaccines don’t cause autism. We have decades of data, thousands of studies and every reputable health organization on the planet saying so. Throwing Tylenol into the conspiracy blender doesn’t make it more scientific – it just makes it more dangerous.

And, honestly, why does it bother them so much that we exist? Autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder aren’t mistakes – they’re natural human neurotypes. Anthropologists and neuroscientists have presented evidence that brains like mine have been around forever, serving a purpose. We were the pattern spotters and early-warning systems that helped our communities survive.

We are not a mysterious epidemic. We are the smoke alarm. We are not here to ruin anyone’s plan for a perfect society. We are here to notice when something is wrong and call it out – loudly, inconveniently, necessarily.

So no, I’m not panicking about acetaminophen, an active ingredient in Tylenol. I’m panicking about politicians turning my existence into a cautionary tale instead of asking what our visibility might be telling them about the state of the world. Maybe stop asking what caused us and start hearing what we’re trying to tell you.

This administration treats autism like a problem to be solved, not a population to be supported. That approach is straight out of the 1940s, when Leo Kanner first described autism in clinical terms that led to institutionalization and treatments designed to make us look normal – not to make our lives better.

The energy spent hunting for a “cause” could be spent building a world where we can actually thrive. What we need is not fewer autistic people − it’s sensory-friendly schools, workplaces that respect executive function differences, health care access, and policies that recognize we grow up and become autistic adults.

Autistic people aren’t a public health threat. The real threat is a society that sees us as one.

Progress is not another “magic bullet” theory about painkillers or more vaccine drama. That’s a distraction. Real progress means building a society that works for autistic people instead of trying to fix us to fit into a dysfunctional one.

Autism rates aren’t rising because of Tylenol – they’re rising because we’re finally diagnosing more girls, children of color and low-income families, and because things are so dysfunctional right now that we can’t mask as well.

Yes, I’m concerned – because “what I feel," as Trump said, is not a peer-reviewed source. Public health advice should come from scientists and doctors, not the president's gut. When leaders spread fear about vaccines or Tylenol, they fuel mistrust in medicine and in autistic people themselves – turning us into a tragedy to prevent rather than a population to support.

And at the risk of repeating myself: Why does it bother them so much that we exist? Autism isn’t a catastrophe. What’s catastrophic is building systems so hostile to cognitive diversity that autistic people have to fight for basic survival.

Good science is slow, boring, careful – and that’s exactly what we need when lives are at stake.

— Rhiannon Yandell, Rockford, Illinois

It's OK to study Tylenol and autism, but not to make these claims

The link between Tylenol and autism has already been investigated and found not credible. That doesn't mean there should be no more research on the subject because medical science is an ongoing project. But it does mean it’s premature to raise alarmist concerns about taking Tylenol during pregnancy. The same holds true for vaccines and even more so because vaccines have been extensively researched and found safe – and they save lives. It is a disaster for American government leaders to discourage the use of vaccines. Neither Trump nor Kennedy is exactly a reliable source of health information.

The Trump administration should turn to actual scientists for information before they make announcements. They are making America sicker, not healthier.

Leucovorin is worth exploring further, and there certainly should be trials. It doesn't seem like there are any downsides to trying it. Staggering vaccines may or may not have downsides, and we should rely on actual medical scientists for guidance on this, not Trump and RFK Jr.

— Jenni Silberstein, Burbank, California

Quackery and quasi medicine

I don’t understand why Trump and Kennedy would tout an unproven link between autism and Tylenol. I feel they are looking for research that supports their theory instead of using time-tested, scientific, peer-reviewed research. They looked for a few months and used certain unproven theories to support this opinion.

I would expect this from RFK Jr. I feel he is a misguided charlatan. I feel this is so bad to present to our country. It can harm women and unborn children if they believe this unproven science and do not take Tylenol if they become ill. Always, always, people should rely on their doctor’s advice. This administration cannot be trusted. Trump does not care what will happen to these mothers or children.

The approach is quackery, quasi medicine, following conspiracy theories rather than following gold standard scientific peer-reviewed research. It is a shame, an embarrassment and a shock. Ignorance of science, promoting conspiracy theories ‒ how have we gotten to this point?

I don’t think you can swiftly figure out the causes of autism; they are just picking out quasi-scientific theories to fit the narrative. They are not interested in deep research – they want to get quick “answers.” It is all nonsense. Progress comes from what the real scientists were researching: heredity and environmental effects.

Staggering vaccines will only result in some kids not getting the full schedule of needed vaccines. Some parents won’t go back. Nothing that RFK Jr. says is promising to me; I cannot believe anything he says. I am glad my grandchildren are in California and will get the full vaccine schedule.

Scientists have explained why the hepatitis B virus is given to all babies at birth: Because sometimes mothers develop Hep B toward the end of their pregnancies and have not retested or they may have had false negatives. Prevention measures in 1980s were not doing enough to stop Hep B in babies, so they tried vaccinating all babies at birth. This significantly reduced Hep B in babies.

Trump is not ignorant about this. When babies and children start coming down with diseases that once were eradicated (polio) he will own this – it will be his legacy.

— Joyce Harvis, Stockton, California

I love my autistic students. Trump, RFK Jr. aren't helping them.

The statements from Trump and RFK Jr. were reckless. I have studied autism and worked with autism as an instructional assistant, and every one of my students are different. To assign blame to a common pain reliever that has been recommended by physicians for decades is irresponsible. Most scientific research has determined that autism is likely a result of chromosome mutation. It is not caused by vaccines, Tylenol or any other external cause. I love my autistic students and strive every day to assist in their schoolwork and help when any social interactions cause them distress.

Autism does not need a "cure," as it is not an illness; it needs understanding. So please, stop this assault on autism. I suggest that this administration study validated research and read reports that may bring some understanding to this disorder.

Leucovorin is a form of folic acid. Folic acid helps your body produce and maintain new cells and also helps prevent changes to DNA that may lead to cancer. There has never been any research showing it is a confirmed treatment for autism. Autism spectrum disorder is a condition related to brain development that affects how people see others and socialize with them. This causes problems in communication and getting along with others socially. Additionally, there have been no studies proving that staggering vaccines will prevent or cure autism.

"What I feel" is a poor reason for guidance on a disorder that affects millions of people. This administration would receive better guidance from doctors and scientists who have studied autism for years. The administration would do better if they placed a board-certified pediatrician schooled in autism to conduct further studies on a disorder that affects so many children and adults, if they want to further this guidance.

— Lucy Ellen Hanson, Midlothian, Virginia

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I'm autistic. Trump thinks people like me need to be cured. We don't. | Your Turn

Reporting by Opinion Forum / USA TODAY

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