Doctors, educators and parents in Charlotte react to President Trump’s Tylenol claim

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A controversial claim from the White House has Charlotte’s autism community speaking out. On Monday, President Donald Trump said the active ingredient in Tylenol could be linked to autism.

Ashton McGrady lives in Dallas and found out five years ago that she has autism.

“It presents very differently for very different people, and I think at the end of the day, we all have to find different ways to accommodate our needs,” McGrady said.

McGrady is a special educator and now creates content online talking about disabilities.

“I don’t think we needed to be on this witch hunt to figure out what was ultimately at the root cause because I think that is so much more of a complex issue,” McGrady said.

She was frustrated by Monday’s White House announcement: linking the active ingredient in Tylenol to Autism and warning pregnant women not to use it.

La Becky Roe’s son, Christopher, has autism. He graduated from high school and attended college. Roe said parents need to do their own research to choose what’s best for their families.

“My son is a blessing to me. God chose me to be his mother, and I have a great deal of gratitude because he brings me joy,” Roe said. “We have to give respect to individuals who are on the spectrum because we do not know their capabilities.”

Trump said studies have found a possible link between using Tylenol during pregnancy, but doctors warn that more research needs to be done. Dr. Rachel DiSanto is the medical director of the Iredell Physician Network.

“At this point, based on the best scientific evidence we have, I will still tell my patients that Tylenol is safe and effective,” DiSanto said. “We have over 20 years of sound scientific evidence that demonstrates there is no risk with Tylenol in pregnancy, and that autism as a diagnosis indeed existed before Tylenol existed as a medication, so there should be no cause for alarm.”

DiSanto said Tylenol is one of the few medicines pregnant women can safely take – and research backs it up.

“It’s essential that we do continue to push to understand why autism happens, how we can treat it,” DiSanto said. “When we have these distractions at a federal level, it just takes resources, funding, energy away from looking at the true causes of autism.”

McGrady says an autism diagnosis is not the end of the world.

“Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, and it, as we know, is a variety of genetic factors, and there are external influences, and that’s not to say that Tylenol or acetaminophen could not have played a role, you know, when taken by pregnant mothers,” McGrady said.

On Monday, the FDA approved leucovorin as a treatment for autism symptoms. DiSanto said more research needs to be done.

“We just don’t have any evidence that is effective, and in fact, I would strongly discourage patients from seeking therapies like that,” DiSanto said.

DiSanto encourages all families to speak with their physicians about the choices that are best for them.