The One Show's Carrie Grant hits out at Donald Trump over autism claims

Presenter of BBC1’s The One Show Carrie Grant has four neurodivergent children with her husband David Grant. Responding to Donald Trump's claim that pregnant women should not take paracetamol as it is linked to autism, she says:

Trump’s latest sweeping statement emerged yesterday. Apparently, us Mums are responsible for our children’s autism because we took paracetamol during pregnancy. Despite much evidence to show this is not true, including a 2024 Swedish study on over 2.5m children disproving Trump’s statement, I am sure these claims will now set back autism research and the autistic community for years to come. And, once again, mums are in the firing line.

In the 1940s the term “Refrigerator Mother” was used for mothers of autistic children. Back then, mums were told their coldness and lack of emotion toward their newborns caused autism. The “blame the Mum” narrative persisted for decades.

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In the late 1990s it was claimed that getting our children vaccinated caused autism. The debunked theory was dismissed, but I believe the impact is still felt to this day. Almost 1 in 5 children have not had their pre-school booster jab this year. Parents are scared. We rely on research, we need advice, but we need it to be scientifically robust.

These hyped-up theories are dangerous to us all and particularly place the burden of responsibility on women. Pregnant women will today be asking themselves if they should take paracetamol for a fever. The result of an untreated fever to a child in the womb could be harmful. This alarming announcement naturally leaves woman worried, trying to work out how to make potentially life changing decisions at an incredibly vulnerable point in their lives.

Trump’s statement is most hard on autism families. My husband, David, and I have run an autism family support group for over 250 families over the past fourteen years, and we see the joy of parents meeting other parents who face daily shaming.

Those of us who have autistic children are already familiar with parental judgement. Taking our children into school and walking past other parents who look away. The walk into school is known in our community as the “walk of shame”.

Friends we used to hang out with are suddenly too busy to see us, shoppers give us unsolicited advice on our melting down child in the aisles of supermarkets, every child in the class is invited to the birthday party except our child, the list goes on. The alienation is real.

Last week Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, accused parents of “hijacking and abusing the SEND system”. We can’t win and Trump’s latest announcement adds fuel to the fire.

Sloppy science and hyperbolic claims don’t make for good outcomes. Autism is not a disease it is a neurotype. There is not an epidemic of autism, there is just better access to assessments and better quality of care. Many factors influence why someone may be autistic, according to the National Autistic Society, evidence suggests that autism is genetic. I’m autistic, I have autistic children, it figures.

What we don’t need is a reprise of already debunked ideas. What families, and in particular mothers need, is robust research across all areas of maternity and family healthcare. What autistic people need is to be seen, understood and included."