Hot Topic: Trump, Tylenol & Autism - Why Misinformation Hurts Us All

Summary

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The Neurodivergent Experience – Hot Topic: Trump, Tylenol & Autism – Why Misinformation Hurts Us All

Hosts: Jordan James & Simon Scott
Release Date: September 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this fiery and humor-laced “hot topic” episode, Jordan and Simon dissect recent misinformation spread by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who claimed a potential link between Tylenol (paracetamol) use and autism. The hosts examine how such high-profile, groundless theories perpetuate stereotypes, devalue neurodivergent identities, and threaten public health. Blending personal perspective, historical context, science, and satire, they passionately advocate for neuroaffirming approaches—and call out dangerous rhetoric wherever they find it.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Trump Comments & Public Reaction (03:15–09:43)

• The Claim: Trump claimed there is a link between Tylenol (paracetamol) and autism, referencing rumors and invoking the specter of medical conspiracies. He was joined by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Medical Community Backlash: Jordan cites the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the UK’s National Autism Society, both of whom publicly condemned Trump’s statements as irresponsible and anti-scientific.
• Danger of Platformed Misinformation: The hosts highlight how the magnitude of Trump’s influence amplifies the harm:

  “He sounds like a conspiratorial crazy podcaster… but he has the biggest audience on the planet.” — Simon (06:05)

• Political Motivation & Distraction Tactics: They suspect this rhetoric is political posturing and deliberate distraction:

  “All this is just distraction… and we get caught in the crossfire.” — Simon (09:09)

• Personal Impact: When autism is framed as a “disease” or “epidemic,” the neurodivergent community is infantilized and dehumanized:

  “The worst thing that happens to neurodivergent people when words like suffer, epidemic, and disease are used is it demoralizes us. It makes us out to be non-human—not as good, not good enough.” — Simon (10:31)

2. Debunking Pseudoscience & Historical Context (12:59–19:24)

• Autism Is Not New: The concept of “severe autism” predates modern drugs—severely impacted neurodivergent individuals were documented long before Tylenol or vaccines existed.
• Sloppy Science: The hosts ridicule the leap from correlation to causation, emphasizing the fallacy:

  “If every woman who took Tylenol during pregnancy didn’t have autistic children, that would mean Tylenol prevents autism… you can’t have it both ways.” — Simon (16:32)

• Disregarded Neurobiology: Genuine scientific studies on synaptic pruning and neurodevelopment are purposefully ignored by those pushing an agenda.
• Exaggerated Statistics: Trump’s wildly inaccurate claim that autism rates jumped from 1 in 10,000 to “100 million autistics” in the US is lampooned.

3. Harmful Narratives & Societal Consequences (20:22–25:57)

• Devaluing Autism: The hosts discuss how overblown, negative language (“Autism is horrible, ruins families”) from figures like Trump and Autism Speaks erase the dignity and diversity within the autistic community.
• Media’s Role: Jordan notes how news cycles can be manipulated to bury more substantive stories under sensationalism.
• Internet & Meme Culture: Satirical responses—like jokes about taking Tylenol to “win Warhammer competitions”—emerge, but misinformation can still shape perceptions at a mass scale.

4. Myths About the Amish and Autism (26:16–31:37)

• Trump’s Amish Claim: Trump allegedly stated that “Amish people do not have autism,” suggesting lack of vaccination/medication as the reason.
• Reality Check: The hosts clarify:
  • The underreporting of autism among the Amish is due to limited healthcare access and cultural factors—not an absence of autism.
  • Using such “logic” is akin to claiming “Amish people don’t get cancer because they don’t report it.”
• Satirical Hypothesis:

  “All Amish people are autistic—they're actually a society of autistic people. …If I say it loud enough, it becomes a fact.” — Simon (30:40)

5. Why This Rhetoric is Dangerous (31:37–34:35)

• Health Risks: Advising pregnant women to “tough it out” and avoid Tylenol (potentially risking their and their child’s life) is not only reckless but also rooted in parent-blaming.

  “They are basically saying… the risk of death or other tragedies is better than being autistic. …That is what they are saying.” — Simon (32:22)

• Hypocrisy Exposed: U.S. political discourse is called out for its contradictory stance on life, choice, and disability.

6. More Global Myths: Cuba (35:40–39:36)

• Trump’s Cuba Example: He claimed Cuba’s poverty (and lack of Tylenol) means it has “virtually no autism.”
• Hosts’ Rebuttal:
  • This is based on rumors and a fundamental misunderstanding of statistics and reporting.
  • Underdiagnosis is rampant in low-resource settings; thus, low official numbers don’t indicate actual prevalence.
• Spotlight on Cuban Neurodiversity: Jordan reads a thoughtful quote from a Cuban doctor on Autistic inclusion and unique ways of being (38:37, see below).

7. Underdiagnosis & Prevalence Realities (39:36–42:55)

• Massive Underdiagnosis: Both hosts emphasize that low diagnosis rates, especially among adults or in resource-poor countries, do not equal lower incidence.
• Complex Neurodivergence: Many, even in developed nations like the UK, go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed throughout life.

8. Closing Thoughts: Laughter, Coping & Hope (43:21–44:57)

• The hosts list (with gentle sarcasm) all the things “autism causes”—from Ghostbusters to Warhammer to Dungeons and Dragons—highlighting the absurdity of the “cause” discourse.
• Urge for critical thinking and reliable information:

  “Read the right information and don’t believe every rumor you hear.” — Jordan (44:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Influence:
  “He sounds like a conspiratorial crazy podcaster… but he has the biggest audience on the planet.” — Simon (06:05)
• On Parent Blame & Ableism:
  “This is your fault, your child is like this. You did a bad thing by taking this drug. …So death is better than being autistic. That is what they are saying.” — Simon (32:22)
• On Stereotypes:
  “Autism is an unknown because it’s different for every single human being. …But to say these things cause autism, or even… ‘severely impacted’ autism, is ridiculous because… (such cases) were discovered in 1911.” — Simon (12:59)
• On Underdiagnosis:
  “90% of autistic adults over 40 are undiagnosed, which means they're not part of any statistic. So even UK statistics are completely wrong because they're far too low.” — Simon (39:36)
• On Cuban Inclusion:
  “Every autistic person is unique and their well being depends on listening, understanding and walking alongside them. Knowing that inclusion isn't measured in words, but embraces that respect silence and celebrate different ways of existing.” — Dr. Osmara Delgado Sanchez, quoted by Jordan (38:37)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Trump’s Tylenol claim, backlash, and context: 03:15–09:43
• Why correlation ≠ causation; Tylenol history and real causes of autism: 12:59–19:24
• Negative impact of rhetoric, media distraction: 20:22–25:57
• Amish and autism reporting myths: 26:16–31:37
• Why this misinformation is dangerous, parent-blaming: 31:37–34:35
• Cuba and autism—low reporting, global context: 35:40–39:36
• Widespread underdiagnosis and what “autism causes”: 39:36–44:57

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Tone & Style

• Fiercely critical yet peppered with humor and British sarcasm
• Lived experience and advocacy centered
• Encourages critical engagement and skepticism of political “expertise”
• Reinforces the richness and diversity of neurodivergent experiences

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Takeaway Message

Misinformation—especially when amplified by powerful figures—perpetuates harmful stereotypes, distracts from systemic issues, and can have life-threatening consequences. The hosts urge listeners to seek evidence-based information, challenge ableist narratives, respect neurodiversity, and recognize that rumors and rhetoric are no substitute for science or lived experience.

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Listen, laugh, and think critically—because as Jordan closes:

“Read the right information and don’t believe every rumor you hear.” (44:43)

Transcript

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[Jordan]

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[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

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[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

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Taxes extra for the device and service.

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[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Hot Topic. Hello and welcome to the neurospicy news Hot topic.

[Jordan]

Oh, it's hot. So hot. Super spicy hot. Come get the hotness.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This is the hottest of all the hot topics I personally have ever spoken about.

[Jordan]

Yeah, this. This is nuclear.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, it's. It's not. It's not just the subject because we've spoken about debunked theories and nonsense studies. And for anyone listening, that was my dog coughing and then my co host coughing.

[Jordan]

I'm a little bit unwell, but I'm all right.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

So we definitely shouldn't be taking any paracetamol just in case it increases our level of autism. Is that, is that, is that factual? Can we check those facts? Because I'm pretty sure that, like I said, the studies we've seen before, which were done by, you know, sponsored charities and crappy nonsense, bullshit around the world, but we have never seen the President of the United States. Let me repeat that. The President of the United States of America, who, let's be honest, in the past, not all presidents have been very smart. Most of them not so smart. But this one, this is the dumbest, dumbest human I've ever heard in my life with this much power. It's. It's insane.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

So Scotty, what. What did numpty Trumpty say so.

[Jordan]

Numpty. I like that. Numpty Trump. I've not heard that one before. That one's good.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I just made that up. You're welcome, everybody.

[Jordan]

As. Yeah. The Imperial March played, the smoke came down, Emperor Palpatine himself descended. So the President of the United States, Donald Trump has attracted condemnation from health experts and just general everybody in the world after he sought to claim there was a link between the widely used painkiller Tylenol and or paracetamol to everybody else and autism. So he was accompanied by his version of Darth Vader. The Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump said doctors would soon be advised not to recommend the drug in some other countries, including the uk, to pregnant women. The claims have been attacked by medical experts and us as well.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Just everyone.

[Jordan]

Just everybody. Just anybody. The American College of Obstetricians. Oh, that's a big word. And gynecologists said the announcement was unsettling and not based on reliable data, while the UK's National Autism Society called Trump's statement dangerous. It's anti science and irresponsible.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And I don't often agree with them, but I do today.

[Jordan]

Yeah, I feel like the Crips and the Bloods have like shook hands and took a photo together in this moment. This is what's happening, Jordan. This is mental. This is absolutely mental.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

It is another level of crazy that. I mean, he's attacked minorities. That's his thing. That seems to be a right, extreme right wing. Not, not a leaning right thing, but like a extreme right thing is to just attack minorities. You know, boat people or disabled people.

[Jordan]

Everything's rubbish because of, insert name here.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, Black people, brown people, women, you.

[Jordan]

Know.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

All those minorities. It's all their blood.

[Jordan]

Safe.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Us poor heterosexual white people, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're basically the minority. Oh, off. Just off. Look, it's, it's not surprising that this has happened. We all saw it coming, but the reaction says it all. It's, it's just this idiot comes up and just says, nonsense. He even said, oh, I've heard a rumor, but, you know, rumors are facts. According to Trump. You know, he, to me, he sounds, and I did a post about this yesterday, he sounds like conspiratorial crazy podcaster. Oh, yeah, but he has the biggest audience on the planet.

[Jordan]

If you say it like a fact, it becomes true. Like, it's just. Yeah, he's scary, man.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

He even says, he even says during his bit, oh, I don't know that it's true. But I don't worry about what I say. I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but essentially he says, I don't really care if I say something. Like, he just doesn't care. He doesn't realize or doesn't. More like he doesn't care of the consequence of his power. And remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

[Jordan]

Yep.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This man is no hero. This man is a pure villain. And this I believe is nothing more than political point scoring on a global scale of. Look at me taking on Big Pharma. I'm with you. You know, I believe that all these, you know, government led organizations that he definitely has money in somewhere.

[Jordan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

That they're all terrible. And it's, it's, it's just crazy. Like he literally will just invent something terrible, which is what Farage does. He invents this, this terrible demon of wokeness and progressiveness. Like it's a really bad thing to be progressive. And then he becomes the hero because it's like, oh, I saved the day from wokeness. I saved. I'm gonna.

[Jordan]

You're all welcome.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, I'm gonna stop that. 4.8% of all immigrants on boats. Like, why, why is that an important issue? Whereas disability health care, minority support the nhs education. Like pot. Potholes. Potholes bother me more than, than, Than people on boats. Potholes bother me more.

[Jordan]

The whole thing that sort of blows my mind though is like a bottom up processor is as all of this sort of like rhetoric around like immigration and autism and everything. It's like it's a country built on immigration. Like it. Every single person in this country in America will descend from an immigrant. Like it just, it just baffles me. It absolutely just almost to the point of it makes my brain crash. It just is. So, yeah, just absolutely messes with my head. But one of the things that also kind of like really sort of grinds my gears with it, as somebody who comes from the media, is I can really see the sort of tricks and games that they're playing here. Like the magician, sleight of hand. Like Jimmy Kimmel gets reinstated back onto tv. Suddenly this autism news drops, completely whitewashes the news.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Could I just say, yeah, okay, Tylenol causes autism, blah, blah, blah. Release the Epstein files. Stop distracting. Stop distracting. Donald Trump. Stop distracting. If you want to really find who the criminals are, Release the Epstein files. Do it.

[Jordan]

Which I'm pretty sure he said he was gonna do in his manifesto.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

All of this is just distraction.

[Jordan]

Yeah. It absolutely is.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And, and we get in the crossfire.

[Jordan]

Yeah. And also as well, to announce this at somebody's funeral.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, that was gross. I'm not, yeah, I'm not.

[Jordan]

We're not going to touch that. But that's messed up.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I'm like, it's like I, I think, like he is just so crass. Like, he just doesn't, to me, it just looks like he doesn't care. But, but the fact is, is whatever you think of Trump, whether you hate him, whether you don't care about him, or whether you might support him, I can't imagine you listened this far if.

[Jordan]

You do, but if you have, I love your tolerance. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I mean, fair play. We all have different opinions.

[Jordan]

Fair play.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

But this isn't about politics. I mean, it is for him, but, but the result of the things that he says might be about politics for him, but it's our lives. And the, the worst thing that happens to autistic people, or he also spoke about adhd, by the way. The worst thing that happens to neurodivergent people when words like suffer, epidemic and disease are used is it demoralizes us. It makes us out to be non human. Not as good, not good enough.

[Jordan]

Broken, you know.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Broken.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

It's the thing, thing that we have fought against the most on this show and me with my advocacy and my book and just from the last six years, I have, trying to be saying we are not broken neurotypicals. We are differently wired, differently evolved humans. Some of us have severe disabilities, some of us have average disabilities. Now, I don't want to get into like what is severe and what is average because everything is severe to the person who's experienced.

[Jordan]

There's no scoreboard here.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

But from, from a general, like, let's help or let's help non neurodivergent people understand this. There are severe impairments when it comes to neurodivergent people. In other words, they can't live by themselves. They can't do things for themselves. That doesn't mean they're intellectually disabled. That's not what that means. It just means they're impaired. Now, there are possible reasons that they're impaired, but my, my, my thing is, is that they're basically saying, or vaccines or Tylenol and blah, blah, blah are the cause. And this is the other thing that bugs me, is that they, they don't say, and I hate this term. And by the way, this isn't a medical term. This seems to be an American term. Severe autism. Severe Autism to them is severe impairment. You can't be severely autistic. You're just autistic. You can't be severely pregnant. You're just pregnant. Yeah, but the, the, the idea is that they're talking about their version of severe autism, which is severe impairment. Kids that will never be able to look after themselves. My friend has one. My other friend has a child that is living in a care facility.

[Jordan]

I have friends that live in care facilities.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Exactly. It's not like, oh, us. We do consider ourselves to be privileged that we are how we are. Even if we do have all the problems that we've discussed previously, we do recognize the privilege that our abilities outweigh our disabilities. For us, Us too. Not all autistic people.

[Jordan]

Let's always be clear, and we're always speaking. Every perspective we ever give on this show is our own. We're talking about our own experience. Yeah, we're not talking for everybody. We're talking just for us.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

That's why we have guests, because then they can talk about their own experiences, and we welcome guests to do exactly that. Autism is an unknown because it's different for every single human being. It just is. But to say that these things cause autism, or even to say these things cause severely impacted autism. Autism is ridiculous because severely impacted, impaired autism, however they want to put it, was discovered in 1911.

[Jordan]

Yeah. It's crazy how the argument just falls apart, isn't it?

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Also later on, very much so, more publicized by Asperger's and by Dr. Connor, as we discussed on the Steve Silverman episode, this, that. That was in the 30s and 40s, and, and Tylenol wasn't until 1950.

[Jordan]

Oh, you read about Isaac Newton.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Well, I mean, I mean, we, we all know that it's been around way before that. I'm saying, I'm saying, like, if you want to talk like facts on paper, we already knew about autism way before Tylenol. We already knew about severely impaired children way before vaccines, way before Tylenol. And they. They can say, oh, it injures, it contributes, it causes. But at the end of the day, they never, ever, ever quote those facts. They never talk about those. They always. Yeah, they will cherry pick their facts to suit their argument. They move the goalposts more than an evangelical Christian does in a conversation about evolution. It's frustrating, but if this was just some people, you can be like, they're annoying. But this is the U.S. president, quote.

[Jordan]

Unquote, leader of the free world.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, well, he doesn't like free speech. Does he? Because anyone who keeps taking that away.

[Jordan]

Yeah, it's funny, though, isn't it? But there's two thoughts that come to that come to mind for me with this is they've obviously done ace. I don't know what sort of study they've done, but they've essentially gone, what do all of these mothers of these, quote unquote, severely autistic people have in common? What is the one drug medication that all of us have taken? Paracetamol. It is the most commonly taken painkiller, so the chances of a pregnant woman taking it are extremely high. How the hell have they gone? Well, the one thing in common that they've all got is they've taken paracetamol, so it must be that. And second, second of all, it instantly makes me question, what companies does Donald Trump have shares in? Because if he doesn't have shares in the company of Tylenol and he has shares in the company of, you know, a rival, then obviously he's going to try and tank it to suit his own profit and his own agenda. And I don't want to put a tin hat on, but I've seen it before and they'll keep doing it.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Okay, so the, the, the study that they're quoting is a Harvard study and they're misquoting it because, again, moving the goalpost to suit their agenda. Making it suit their agenda. Yeah, yeah. But the person who did the study, the Harvard professor within, within his writing, he still says further studies are needed, but they, they, they've come out.

[Jordan]

Is that really important?

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This is a fact. So, so, I mean, one is still correlation equals causation, which is not science, because by, by that logic, all the women who took Tylenol paracetamol during pregnancy that didn't have autistic children, that means that Tylenol paracetamol prevents autism. But you, you can't, you can't have it both ways.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Because if every single woman, and by the way, autistic people remember, it's autistic people who have autistic children. So if that woman is autistic and then she's hypersensitive, she's more than likely going to take more paracetamol. She's going to have more pain, she's going to have more problems. So it's, I mean, but again, that's, that's correlation causation. But it still is more logical than what they're saying, which is just. It causes it, it's not caused. It's created by Evolution, the synaptic pruning reduction. It's biodiversity. Just the, the, the reduction in synaptic pruning which by the way has been around, you know, the studies, those studies which are, There are many studies have been around since 2014 with the latest in 2025 and it's the. No one, no one talks about those. It blows my mind that it is such a well known thing within the scientific community that like you can easily Google search it and come up with many, many brilliant studies, most of which are unfortunately looking for the cure or looking to stop it, which is not good. But, but that's what all of these studies seem to be. It's very rare that I'll read a study that's like we're looking for. We. The reason why we're so awesome. It's why are you so broken? But the fact is, are the facts this. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, it is irrelevant when it comes to the fact of synaptic pruning and the reduction of it. But they don't talk about that. Even though there are way more studies than there are about Tylenol, because they, that doesn't suit their agenda, that doesn't suit their goal, because they're moving the goalpost to suit their rhetoric. And it's bollocks. One of the craziest things he comes up with to do exactly that, to move those goalposts is the numbers that he states. Now, we all know Donald Trump likes to exaggerate. 100 million autistics. Yeah.

[Jordan]

Coming over the walls.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

So he's saying that 18 years ago, 1 in 10,000 people were diagnosed autistic in the US whereas the actual number is closer to 110. Not 110,000, just 110.

[Jordan]

I love his confidence in the, like the screening process over there. If only, if only we could figure out how, how many. It was Donald. Christ.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

It's, it's, it's funny because it's so ridiculous. It's, it's a bit like me saying, oh, I, I want to say to somebody on Tinder that I'm a little bit taller than I am. So I go, oh, I'm. Because I'm actually five ten. So I go, oh, I'm like six foot. But Donald Trump would be like five.

[Jordan]

Foot ten and a bit.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Don't. Trump would be like, I'm nine and a half feet. Nine and a half. I'm the tallest man that's ever existed.

[Jordan]

I said to the guys down there, look how small they Are those guys?

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

My head, my head scrapes the clouds when I walk. It's, it's ridiculous. It's. It. Because it's just like what is the most extreme? And, and, and they have got these numbers from another ridiculous study that, that, that is, is utterly, utterly easily debunkable. But like I said, they're like conspiracy theorists with the largest platform on earth. But it's not just, you know, neurodivergence, they're taking a pop out. It's all the issues that they create the villain or create. And they are creating a villain. They're saying autism is horrible, it ruins families. They're going on what Autism speaks did in 2009 with that dreadful advert where they made autism sound like a, like a, like a, like a, like it coming to eat your children. You know, Pennywise is coming at you. Pennywise equals autism. It was awful. But we've got over that.

[Jordan]

It completely devalues our position in society. It's like we're in other. We're a thing where this thing that has taken your children from you, like, like a vampire coming to knock on your door, don't invite it in because once it comes in is going to take everything from you. And what frustrates me so much about the fact that they're using inaccurate numbers, they're also not talking to actual specialists or, you know, people that are from our community that can actually have a half decent conversation because that's not going to happen. And all of this language in this narrative is shaping how autistic people are viewed. I mean, I've gone on Instagram and I've gone on TikTok and I've seen a lot of memes and a lot of reels of people being like, I need to win my Warhammer competition this week, so I'm going to take two extra Tylenol and you kind of laugh. But then I also, it worries me because I know for a fact that so many people are top down processes are going to view this and just go, autism's bad. Paracetamols bad.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. But I mean in the US the rhetoric is that of being negative. It's better in this country, I think, I think in this country, the UK actually has the best idea of what autism is or autistic people. But it's, it's still not great. It's, it still isn't great.

[Jordan]

It could be better, but it could be worse.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Which, which does say a lot. I mean, like we, I mean we, we don't need to go over exactly how we get treated. We, we've spoken about it. If you want to listen, listen to all previous episodes and please do, do download them twice on different devices.

[Jordan]

Send them to your friends, force them to listen.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Make people download everything.

[Jordan]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

No. So we're gonna have a break, which is a bit unusual, but this is going to be a little bit longer than usual. So let's have a little break.

[Jordan]

I'm sorry.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, and my dog needs to cough, so see you in a minute.

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This is a neurodivergent experience. Public announcement if you live in England and you or a loved one is waiting for an autism or ADHD assessment, you don't have to wait years. RTN Diagnostics is now part of the NHS Right to Choose scheme, which means if your local wait for a consultant led autism or ADHD assessment is more than 18 weeks, you can choose RTN instead and it won't cost you a penny. Jordan chose RTN for his own family because their care and attention to detail were second to none. They didn't just diagnose autism and adhd.

[Jordan]

They they looked at the full picture.

[RTN Diagnostics Announcer]

Including pda, ocd, anxiety and more. The team is friendly, neuroaffirming and comprises many neurodivergent individuals so they truly understand getting started is simple. Download the GP referral letter and questionnaire from the link in our show notes, take those to your GP and ask for a referral to RTN diagnostics. If approved, RTN will be in touch within eight weeks to begin your assessment. Remember, this only applies in England and some exclusions do apply. RTN is not currently able to accept referrals for child ADHD assessments. So check the details before you start RTN diagnostics, helping you get the answers you deserve without the wait.

[Jordan]

Welcome back. I've just seen a fabulous meme, Jordan, just scrolling through reminder that it's only called autism if it comes from the Tylenol region of France. Otherwise it's just sparkling neurodivergence.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Sweet. Love it. Love it.

[Jordan]

Welcome back, everybody.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Should we get on to the. One of the things that I thought blew my mind and, and this, this is saying something for that man who just says so much nonsense to come up with something like this actually was like, what am I listening to? And it's even dumber than Tylenol causes autism, which is even dumber than 1 in 10,000, which is actually 1 in 110, is that Amish people don't have any autism.

[Jordan]

Oh, the Amish, lovely people, great people.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

The, the army build a barn in an afternoon who apparently none, none have vaccines, which I don't know if that's actually true because researchers, they basically says that they use a mixture of modern medicine and hope and prayer. But apparently according to Donald Trump, Amish people do not have any autism. And that is, that's, that's enough for him to be like, that makes it a fact that vaccine cause autism because Amish people don't have vaccines and therefore they don't have any autism. Brilliant. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Trumpet. Like, seriously, like what? Yeah, okay, so I, I did some research on this and it says the myth of low autism rates among the Amish, which is a, which is a fact, there is, there is a, there is a low recorded amount of autism. The myth of low autism rates among the Amish likely stems from limited health care access, cultural misunderstandings and under reporting, not actual lower incidents. Now that is very easily found out. But you, you can just find that out. It's really, there's a lot of information about the Amish and their lack of reporting any. So that you could say the Amish people don't ever get cancer. So the cure for cancer is being Amish. Like, that's the same level of logic that Donald Trump used, that growing your beard long and wearing, wearing a funky hat is the cure for diabetes. Because no Amish person has diabetes because they don't report it or they don't know what it is.

[Jordan]

It's a community that's got a very private nature and it doesn't participate in modern healthcare systems. So it's not going to be reported. You know, they're Amish for A reason? Yeah, they keep to themselves. They don't use technology in the way that we do in sort of like modern society. But what is crazy is much of the discussion has been based on assumptions rather than fact. And I vividly remember seeing something about Trump a while ago where he was like, if anybody throws a stone at you, fire back with the bazooka. If you say something out loud as if it's a fact, it becomes one. And if anybody doubts it, double down. And this. He's been spouting this sort of stuff since he was on Wall street, and it amazes me that they've kind of. They're clinging to the most obscure sorts of claims that just slightly back up their argument, as if they're trying to have a debate with a student at Cambridge University. They're like, well, you know, what about this? Well, this kind of proves my point, so it must be true. And the thing that's so frustrating about this is there's such limited access to diagnostic and health care services contributed to, you know, late diagnosis within Amish populations because they're. They're notoriously a people that keep themselves to themselves. There's not a lot of genetic research involved in the populations, like looking into hereditary factors because they don't access modern healthcare systems. They keep themselves to themselves, which, ironically, is quite an autistic trait. Maybe don't like doctors. Kind of just want to keep myself to myself. Okay, Just do my own thing. In a bit, mate.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This is my hot take. All Amish people are autistic. They're actually a society of autistic people. And the reason why they're not. It isn't obvious that they're autistic is because they're all autistic, and therefore none of them are not autistic. And therefore that's a fact. Because I just said it. And if I say it loud enough, it becomes a fact. All Amish are autistic. That is why they all wear the same clothes every single day.

[Jordan]

Oh, they'd love trains. They would love trains.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. They invent their own trains run by horses. Horse trains. Amish, autistic people.

[Jordan]

That sounds like. Like the unlocked transformer, doesn't it? Horse train.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

It's just. It's fun. It's fun, but also it's. It's. It's dangerous. So let's. Let's get on to dangerous. If you are pregnant and you have a fever, that fever can potentially cause death.

[Jordan]

Yes. Not just for you, but for the child.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And. But at the very least, it can Cause serious disabilities in that child. So I want to address two things that Trump said. One, women just tough it out. Says. Says the man who absolutely needs kicking in his tiny balls over and over again just to have the slight realization of how tough being pregnant is and giving birth. Just tough it out. Just tough it out.

[Jordan]

Awful.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Wow.

[Jordan]

Wow. And they say we haven't got empathy. This is.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This is parent blaming.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

This is back. This is your fault. Your child is like this. You did a bad thing by taking this drug. You should have just had that terrible, terrible fever and risked death. Okay, so I actually have three. Three. They're basically saying the risk of death or other tragedies is better than being autistic. So they want me and people like me to not exist. And they are willing to risk death to a child through not vaccinating or not taking paracetamol during pregnancy. The risk is death at very worst. So death is better than being autistic. That is what they are saying. You don't have to twist it to know that's what they're saying, because it's right there in what they're saying.

[Jordan]

Yeah. This is mental. In a country that fought so hard for Roe versus Wade, like, in a country where they were like, we're getting rid of abortions, reproductive rights, the right to choose, everything because of the life, but we would rather that child die than be autistic. It just. It just contradicts itself at every single turn.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Well, yeah, because like I said, again, it's. It's. It's not about right or wrong, because clearly they're wrong. It's about who believes they're right and wrong. And the type of people that vote for Trump, that support Trump, the MAGA crowd, they are dumb enough to stop taking vaccines. They are dumb enough to stop taking Tylenol. They are dumb enough to believe this. And Trump himself. And I could be wrong, but I swear I freaking saw this. Literally said that he likes uneducated people.

[Jordan]

Of course he does.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And of course you do, of course, because that's who votes for you. So I'm not saying that if you voted for Donald Trump that you are dumb. What I'm saying is if you would vote for Donald Trump right now, after the last nine months of everything he has done, you are now dumb. If you support Donald Trump right now, you are naive, you are misguided, and you like red hats so much that you don't want to. You don't want to give up your red hat. Yeah, I've got a Red hat, but it's got a picture of Michael Jordan on it.

[Jordan]

A real American hero.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

A real. An actual American hero for neurodivergent people. Air Jordan, can we just say, is ADHD neurodivergent? That is someone we should look up to, not an tangerine who only cares about cash.

[Jordan]

That's.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

That's the truth.

[Jordan]

Yeah. And it is sort of. Yeah, it is. It is really baffling. And it kind of only gets worse as well when you look into. Is going that, oh, Cuba doesn't have any autism.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Cuba absolutely has zero autism. There, There has. I have never met an autistic Cuban person in all my life. Therefore, that must be a fact. Because, I mean, I've never met a, A. A Cuban person. But that is irrelevant in what I'm trying to say, because that doesn't suit my argument. I've never met a Cuban, but therefore, that means I have never met an autistic Cuban. Therefore no Cuban is autistic. What I like is the article that you can quote it from the leader of Cuba. Was it the leader of Cuba or was it a Cuban doctor?

[Jordan]

It's a bit of both. So what I'll. Here you go. I'll lay out for you.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah.

[Jordan]

So Cuba's health system treats autism. It's available to anyone savvy enough to write Cuban autism into Google. But the president on Monday of this made the claim that the island's poverty had spared Cuba from the condition to which he said, I mean, there's a rumor. I don't know if it's. If it's so or not, that Cuba, they don't have Tylenol, and because they don't have the money for it, and they have virtually no autism. Okay, tell me about that one Trump said at the event on Monday was, they're poor people. They have no Tylenol, no autism.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I. I just. I just love the fact that, that, that in. In that. In that statement one, he said, rumor you're the president, and you said, I heard a rumor like you're a granddad at a birthday talking to you.

[Jordan]

He's literally like. Like your nan on Facebook going, deb down the street told me, literally talking.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

About a Facebook post. Oh, this Facebook post said this thing, therefore it must be true. Okay, but you are the U.S. president.

[Jordan]

You have the nuke button under your desk.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah, that's. That's that scary.

[Jordan]

That's the scary. I heard a rumor for a Diet Coke.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

But yeah, it's. It's the very fact he literally says, I heard a rumor and then carries on and says so that basically means it's true. And he literally. So, so there's that, that, that, that's, that's all part of this evidence. And I'm sorry, but just that on its own that you said, I heard a rumor that no Cuban is autistic because they can't afford Tylenol. And, and that, and he, then he makes that out to be a fact after saying it's a rumor. Pretty much sums the entire thing up in one go.

[Jordan]

Isn't Cuba renowned for its top of the class health care system?

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I, I don't know. And I don't know because I'm sure.

[Jordan]

It is because like I've got something here. There's a quote which I think is quite, quite good. This was given by Dr. Osmara Delgado Sanchez on Autism Awareness Day in April. Every autistic person is unique and their well being depends on listening, understanding and walking alongside them. Knowing that inclusion isn't measured in words, but embraces that respect silence and celebrate different ways of existing. Which I think is wonderful.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Wonderful. Yeah, it's very progressive.

[Jordan]

It says here, while Cuba has reported much lower instances of autism than many developed countries, as of writing point 36 cases per 10,000 people. The island's health professionals concede that may be in part to the result of a lack of resources needed to more widely diagnose the condition. As it's stated here. According to the World health organization, in 2021, 1 in 127 people are autistic. But the World Health Organization cautioned the prevalence of autism in many low and middle income countries is unknown.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Exactly my point. Okay, so what we were talking about on our last hot topic was, or the one before, I can't remember which one is. 90% of autistic adults over 40 are undiagnosed, which means they're not part of any statistic. So even the UK statistics are completely wrong because they're, they're far too low. Like so I don't know what, what it is in the UK, but let's say for argument's sake is 1 in 110, but it must be 1 in 80 or 1 in 70. I mean, I believe that it's more like. And by the way, this is not a fact or a rumor. This is just from what I have witnessed, so not a fact. I think it's probably more like 3 in 10, maybe 4 in 10. Not the autistic, but in other words that they've reached the criteria for an autism diagnosis. But just, Just being neurodivergent. So having one of the born neurodivergent. Because neurodivergence is many things, but the, the born neurodivergent conditions, as it were. And I'm doing that in air quotes of autism, adhd, dyslexia, dyscalculate, dyscalculator. Yeah, see, I definitely got dyslexia, dyspraxia, and so on and so forth. If, if, if there are so many neurodivergent adults out there, and we know many who are.

[Jordan]

I know most of them.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

I know every single one. I speak for all of them. Yeah, just that. Yeah. That I'm accused of on Facebook constantly. You speak forever. You don't speak for every autistic person. Cool. That's exactly.

[Jordan]

Thank you very much.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Never said I did. But. Yeah, but I do right now. No, I don't. That every. Like, there's so many people I know, including all of my friends, that are undiagnosed with, that are definitely neurodivergent and multiple cases of. Of conditions, but are only diagnosed with one, most of them being that they're diagnosed ADHD even though they're autistic, but they're not diagnosed autistic because they got the ADHD diagnosis and were like, that'll do.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And there are so many people out there, just in general that are just like, I don't. I don't need to die. I know that I'm, you know, I know I'm neurodivergent. I know I'm autistic because there is so much information out there. And the health care system in this country is diabolical when it comes to neurodivergence and mental health for those neurodivergent people. So I can't imagine that it's much better in Cuba. So if we have 90% of autistic people undiagnosed over the age of 40, I would imagine that that number is even greater in Cuba. That's why the rates are so low, in my opinion, from what I've seen, from what I've said, not just a.

[Jordan]

Rumor that Gladys told you about at the caf this morning.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Well, my. My dog sneezed and he's autistic, so I think sneezing causes autism.

[Jordan]

Oh, no. That's why I've had a cold this week. I took a paracetamol and it just all came out.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Oh, does, does. I mean, what does autism cause? Funky hair, young, young looks.

[Jordan]

Interesting, fun people, great films, TV media, books. Collections, Toys, the wheel. Definitely Warhammer.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Dungeons and Dragons. That's it. I'm gonna do an entire list on Facebook of what autism causes, not what causes autism. And I'm gonna be like, you're freaking welcome, world. And mostly you're welcome for Ghostbusters, because. Absolutely.

[Jordan]

Oh, man. This is. Yeah. What. What a crazy, crazy world we live in. And I'm sure, like many, many people out there, you saw this story and just rolled your eyes and went, oh, come on. What a. What a crazy, crazy world we live in. But we will be back on Thursday with another episode, another hot topic. Hopefully not as hot as this one. May this story die down and disappear. And for God's sakes, release the Epstein files.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And rest in peace. Harold Ramis.

[Jordan]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Because he was also neurodivergent.

[Jordan]

Yeah, I know. I know.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Go Ghostbusters.

[Jordan]

Go Ghostbusters. Gotta catch them ghosts.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Yeah. Now we just need trump busters.

[Jordan]

Trump busters. Just a slimer. Just. RFK is just play slime. I'd watch it. I'd watch it. Anyway, bye, everybody. Take care of yourselves out there. Read the right information and don't believe every rumor you hear.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

And I'm glad we could at least laugh and not just cry.

[Jordan]

Not yet.

[Co-host (possibly neurodivergent advocate)]

Nightly. Bye.

[Jordan]

Bye.

[RTN Diagnostics Announcer]

Thanks for tuning in to the neurodivergent experience. We hope today's episode sparks something for you, whether it's a new idea, a bit of validation, or just a moment of connection. Remember, New England episodes are every week, so be sure to join us for the next one for more conversations and insights into the ne Divergent experience. If you've enjoyed this podcast, help us grow. You can do that by rating and reviewing this show. Your support makes a huge difference in helping us reach more people who could benefit from these conversations. You can connect with us on social media, find us on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok Talk. Just search for the neurodivergent experience. Thank you again for listening and until next time, take care of yourself. You're not alone in this journey.

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[Jordan]

Acast powers the world's best Podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

[Ann Morris]

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[Jordan]

Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast. Com.