When Donald Trump warned against Tylenol use during pregnancy, critics called it reckless. When Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. followed with a sweeping statement about “turning over every stone” from pharmaceuticals to toxic exposures, the outrage doubled. The medical establishment quickly reassured the public that acetaminophen is safe. Yet Kennedy’s speech marked a turning point: for the first time in decades, the federal government admitted it is willing to study all potential causes of autism — including the ones once considered politically off-limits. “Historically, NIH has focused almost solely on politically safe and entirely fruitless research about the genetic drivers of autism,” Kennedy said. “That would be like studying the genetic drivers of lung cancer without looking at cigarettes.” The FDA has now announced it will place warning labels on acetaminophen for pregnant women, advise the lowest-dose use, and fund further research into possible links with autism and ADHD. Kennedy also pointed to folate deficiency and potential therapies, such as leucovorin, as areas of promise. And, most controversial, he stated that vaccines — long considered untouchable — are now under examination.
What’s missing from the headlines is the question that both Trump and Kennedy dared to ask: Why is autism so much more prevalent today than it was in the past? The familiar answer — that we are just “better at diagnosing” — does not hold up under scrutiny. In the 1970s, autism was considered rare. Today, it affects 1 in 36 children nationwide. Awareness alone cannot account for such a dramatic increase. And the rise is not distributed evenly. According to CDC surveillance data, Black children are now diagnosed at rates as high or higher than White children — about 1 in 27 Black 8-year-olds. That’s a reversal from decades ago, when Black children were systematically underdiagnosed.
Another disparity emerges: Black children with autism are more likely to also have intellectual disability compared to their White peers. This means many cases are only recognized when symptoms are severe, leaving milder forms undetected for years. Delayed diagnoses translate into delayed interventions, compounding challenges for families. So even as the statistics “catch up,” the outcomes do not. In Sowell’s language, this is a failure of results over rhetoric — one more example where institutions congratulate themselves on equity while families face harsher realities.
What medical experts avoid addressing is the possibility that autism’s rise is not driven by a single cause but by a combination of factors. The vaccine debate has long been declared “settled,” and now acetaminophen is brushed off as “unproven.” But what if the truth is not either/or, but both/and? What if autism stems from an interplay of vaccines, common pharmaceuticals like Tylenol, environmental toxins, and nutritional deficiencies? To dismiss that possibility outright is not science but politics. The health care system must shift its focus from protecting narratives to examining outcomes. The outcome is clear: autism diagnoses are dramatically higher than in the 1970s, and Black children face disproportionate rates with more severe complications. Numbers don’t lie — and until those numbers are confronted, the establishment has no excuse for refusing to ask the hard questions.
Instead of engaging Kennedy’s announcement on its merits, the political class resorted to outrage. Critics labeled it pseudoscience. Yet the new approach — breaking down silos between NIH, FDA, CDC, and CMS — is precisely what many families have demanded for decades: research without taboos. Even if Kennedy is incorrect about some exposures, his broader point remains valid. For too long, research has been confined to politically safe areas, overlooking environmental and pharmaceutical opportunities.
Meanwhile, the numbers kept climbing. Families — especially in Black communities with fewer resources and later diagnoses — deserve answers, not dismissals. Sowell often reminded us: “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” The truth is, autism is more prevalent today than in any previous generation. The truth is Black Americans are disproportionately affected by late detection and higher severity. And the truth is, our institutions have failed to produce answers while hiding behind politically convenient science.
No one is suggesting parents abandon medicine overnight. But the refusal to ask hard questions has left families in the dark. If Kennedy’s initiative finally forces a complete, unbiased examination of all causes — genetic, pharmaceutical, environmental, and beyond — it will do more for children than decades of bureaucratic reassurance. Autism is a complex disorder, but complexity is no excuse for inaction. Until our institutions deliver honest answers, the rise in prevalence — especially among Black children — will remain a national crisis hiding in plain sight.
