At a very young age, Maxwell Huffman knew he absorbed the world around him differently than most of his classmates.
He was diagnosed with autism as a teenager, and almost 20 years later Huffman is a director of Aspiritech, a non-profit based in Chicago who works to find a meaningful employment for people who have autism or neurodiversum.
“If you now give me a button that I could press that said,” You are no longer autistic, “I would not press that button because I like who I am,” Huffman said. “I am happy with who I am now.”
Although studies show that autism is increasingly common, Huffman and other lawyers do not necessarily see that as a bad thing.
“Children with autism, if they have the right support, access to medical care and therapies, they can have great results,” said Lisa Ackerman, executive director of the Autism Community in Action, an organization of the basis that offers education and support to thousands of people with autism and their families.
This sentiment is contrary to comments on Monday by President Donald Trump, who called autism a “terrible, terrible crisis” while connected the use of Tylenol during pregnancy with a “very increased risk of autism”, despite decades of evidence that the freely available pain medication is safe.
President Donald Trump answers questions after making an announcement about “important medical and scientific findings for the American children” in the Roosevelt room of the White House on Monday, in Washington, DC. – Andrew Harnik/Getty –
The president’s claims generate concern among some people with autism and their loved ones, who say that his comments blame mothers, again stigmatize people with autism and ignore the support needed for families and people who have to deal with autism.
Others in the community have pronounced optimism in the relocation of the American food and drug administration to approve Leucovorin, a medicine that is typically taken during chemotherapy, for the treatment of autism in children.
Ackerman says her son, 28, has used the medication since he was 5. “It helped him in cognition, speech, sleep, irritability and fear,” Ackerman told CNN.
Now she hopes that the medicine can help others who have difficulty finding support.
What is autism?
Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, refers to a wide range of neurological conditions that are characterized by challenges with communication and social skills. People with autism “can behave, communicate, communicate and learn in ways that differ from most other people,” said the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and “The skills of people with ASD can vary considerably.”
The American health and human service secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has stimulated the idea that autism is “prevented” and is part of a “chronic disease pidemy” that “destroys” children and families.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Leave the stage after discussing the findings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s newest autism and developmental disorders Monitoring Network Survey in Washington, DC, on April 16 – Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters/File/File
Trump has said that researchers should go faster in finding the causes of autism, and Kennedy said that all agencies will investigate the issue under his leadership.
But experts say that several causes of autism are considered – Mainly genes and exposure to the environment – And the science that shows a connection between autism and Tylenol is not arranged.
Earlier this year, Kennedy mentioned the rising percentage of autism in the country an “individual tragedy” and “catastrophic for our country” after the release of a CDC report that autism figures found in 8-year-olds in the US rose of 1 to 36 in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022. Experts of Autism attribute to this turnout Screening efforts, setting screening efforts, among younger children.
“These are children who will never pay taxes. They will never keep a job. They will never play baseball. They will never write a poem. They will never go on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet without help,” said Kennedy.
Huffman rejects this rhetoric and calls it a simplification. Instead of seeing autism as a deficiency, it must be seen as an untouched super power, some proponents say.
“I am sure that many people would meet me, and they would not automatically notice all the challenges I am confronted with,” Huffman told CNN and noted that his autism is “less serious” than others in the community.
“The human brain is complicated,” says Tara May, the CEO of Aspiritech, where Huffman works, and the mother of two children in the spectrum.
“Autism is a really important subset of a wide range of neurodiversity,” May said, and noted that it often overlaps with psychological disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
“Mental health is an important part of our happiness, our productivity and our way of existence in this world,” May added. “Every approach we follow in recommendations on physical health or mental health, they must be rooted in science and are taken from a place of kindness for others.”
New medicine brings renewed hope
The drugs approved by the FDA to treat symptoms of autism are limited, so that parents bring more limitations, says Ackerman. Two antipsychotic drugs have been approved to treat irritability associated with ASD, but both have a black box warning about safety, and neither of them focuses on the underlying medical problems that are presented with autism, according to Ackerman.
A new medicine that was recently approved by the FDA, Leucovorin, is an addition Ackerman is optimistic about.
“It is a difficult conversation for everyone to talk about a child who has needs,” said Ackerman. “Maybe they will have hope and perhaps be inspired to talk to people and hope that there is a new treatment that can influence positive results for people with autism.”
The drug-a calcium folinic acid with a high dose is usually used to treat cancer patients during chemotherapy, but is used off-label to treat other disorders, including symptoms of autism. Some studies have demonstrated a potential relationship between autism and low brain levels of folic acid, a B vitamin found in many foods such as in leafy vegetables, nuts and eggs, but more clinical studies are needed.
Leucovorin would not be a remedy for autism – and many people in the community say they wouldn’t want one in the first place.
“Many people, including myself, have the feeling that there is no need for a remedy, at least not for any form of autism that exists,” Huffman said. “I think there are many people who feel that it is a useful difference for them, and it makes them who they are.”
Anne Murry, who lives in Kentucky, says that Leucovorin has had positive effects on her son with autism, but adds that she thinks the government should offer more support to families.
“If you care about these children, give them the food they need, give them a great insurance cover, give them therapies that are reimbursed,” said Murry, and noticed that a lack of therapists in her state who work with people in the spectrum.
Is this a setback?
Advocacy groups have worked over the years to increase consciousness to help parents and others understand what their child could experience and seek a diagnosis.
Diagnosing autism is easiest in children who need more support, experts say. Just like Huffman, some children with autism do not need much and can continue to meet developmental mile poles for up to 8 years or later.
In the nineties and early 2000, Huffman’s mother started investigating autism in an attempt to better understand her son.
“I remember the day that I found part of the book that she read about autism,” said Huffman, who was formally diagnosed at 4 pm. “I remember that I said to her,” Is this what I have? Am I this? ” Because everything I read was logical.
Huffman says that his mother’s willingness to learn and talk about his diagnosis helped him to learn from his differences, not to hate.
But some experts say that recent autism discussions will reduce the US at least a decade, to a time stay with harmful stigma around autism that the community has difficult to fight to change, according to Zoe Gross, director of Advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a joint explanation that have a joint explanation of knowing advocacy organizations.
Kennedy “has set up this litmus test of what it is like to be a person and to have a valuable life,” said Gross, who has autism. “It is not acceptable to talk more in this way because of the work we have done.”
Lissette Pedreiras, who lives with her son with autism in New Jersey, says that the rhetoric of the Trump government about autism and Tylenol is dangerous during pregnancy from the perspective of an overwhelmed caregiver.
“Now we have an administration that says it was something we did. And note, I never took Tylenol while I was pregnant,” said Pedreiras.
Since his diagnosis, much has changed, says Huffman, but he is worried about what will come for his community.
“This has all the trademarks of a hurried conclusion for a very complex issue, which can cause much more damage than good,” said Huffman.
CNN’s Jen Christensen, Brenda Goodman, Meg Tirrell and Deidre McPhillips have contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this story has wrongly spelled Anne Murry’s last name.
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