As the mother of a child with autism, campus safety monitor Alysha Najera has a strong relationship with her son. Even though her son has autism, she says he can use it as a superpower. She has come to realize many things about children on the autism spectrum.

“My son struggles to regulate his emotions. So, when we get mad or upset, we can feel it coming on, and we can kind of channel it. He cannot,” Najera said. “He will just have the outburst. He will scream, cry, and run off. He might throw something, tip over a chair. His emotions are very heightened.”

Even though autism can cause difficult impacts on children, Najera’s son has a superpower that not all people have, on or off the spectrum.

“He’s what you call twice exceptional. He is also gifted and talented,” Najera said. “Most people don’t realize children who have a disability like autism are actually super smart. He excels academically, and he’s very artistic.”

The relationship between Tylenol and autism is cloudy. President Donald Trump has influenced people to believe that taking Tylenol while pregnant causes their child to have autism, but Najera disagrees.

“I’d probably say I disagree, because I go off what my doctors and my kids’ doctors say, and scientific stuff. Unless he has research to base it on, which I don’t know if he does, I probably wouldn’t trust it,” she said.

Najera, in some ways, feels targeted by the president, who she feels is blaming her as the cause of her child’s autism.

“You’ve got people who believe it and think, ‘What if I didn’t take Tylenol when I was pregnant?’ People think, maybe my child wouldn’t have autism if I didn’t do this,” Najera said. “People are scared.”

Najera believes that all children are different, no matter what. All children are their own person, whether they have autism or not. Najera is making sure that her son knows that.

“‘Your brain is just different.’ That’s what I tell my son,” she said. “His brain is different, they don’t really know where autism comes from yet.”

Walking through the halls of Monarch, It’s hard to miss Greg Maxwell’s (12) huge smile, outgoing personality, kind heart, and of course, his athletic ability.

“Greg has left his mark on various athletic programs throughout high school,” Greg’s mom, Lisa Maxwell said. “He has participated in wrestling, track and field, and mountain biking. He has gone to State as part of the Unified sport category for wrestling and track and field.”

Autism has only fueled Greg’s love for sports. Throughout his four years in high school, Greg has taken 53 minutes off of his mountain biking race time.

“He drives himself to school along with his brother,” Lisa said. “We try not to step in unless we absolutely need to. He’s on the mountain bike team. He comes home and is back out the door for practice.”

Recent claims from President Donald Trump suggest a connection between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism. Lisa disagrees with this claim.

“Everybody’s experience with having someone with autism, or knowing someone with autism, is different, and not everybody has consumed Tylenol when they’re pregnant. I think a lot of links are to genetics,” she said.

Greg has also been navigating high school while learning to be independent. Lisa said her son is aware of the news surrounding autism and alleged cures, as well as therapies presented, but he’s confident in who he is.

“He is aware of the news behind it,” she said. “Even though they have discussed trying to come up with a cure, he said even if they did, he wouldn’t want it. He said he’s fine the way he is. It’s not something to cure.”

Maxwell feels as though many parents and children in the autism community don’t believe Trump’s claims about the situation, and that political opinions about autism can differ widely.

“I would guess, politically, depending on what state you are in and what locale you’re in within that state, probably differs,” Maxwell said. “Depending on whether or not you’re a Democrat or a Republican, I guess they might have some heavier opinions on the subject. But as far as around here, I don’t think it’s really impacted this area as much.”

Misconceptions surrounding autism and how it affects people’s lives are constantly circulating, and many see it as something foreign and unnatural. However, Maxwell expresses how autism has positively impacted her life.

“It’s giving me more patience and understanding for people with differences,” Maxwell said. “It’s helped me to be able to understand other people, given when they don’t understand something, and to be able to see their point of view a little bit.”

Maxwell admits she worries about the future and how others may perceive her son.

“I’m sort of worried that they would look down on him, just because he is diagnosed with autism, that they wouldn’t even consider him versus someone else,” Maxwell said.

Still, Maxwell focuses on her son’s strength, not on what he can’t do, but on what he can do as an independent and capable person.

“We call this autism superpower,” Maxwell said. “Even though he does have focus issues, he is able to drive. Autism makes it so he is hyper-focused on following the rules […] he’s more likely to follow the rules and not get in trouble.”

Despite the vast misinformation spread about living with autism and its correlation to Tylenol, Maxwell brings to light how the majority of these preconceived notions are wrong and harmful.

“I think he is a very capable person. Don’t judge a book by its cover. You have to give them an opportunity for growth. Otherwise, it won’t happen,” Maxwell said.

Watching fear affect families in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) community is an everyday reality for Dr. Talli Hitt, a clinical psychologist. She works closely with children with neurological differences such as autism, and has watched families become hesitant to seek a diagnosis. So, she helps families see diagnosing as a game to unravel the reality of ASD.

“I like getting the data and getting to be able to look at all of the information, really kind of like a big puzzle of trying to understand someone,” Hitt said. “Being a testing psychologist has been my passion, because I like being able to help people find the right path and answer questions that they’ve had a hard time answering up until they’ve seen us.”

Dr. Hitt started her work in the 2000s, fostering safe spaces in a world that lacks them. In the last seven years, she’s diagnosed people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and worked with families to help redefine the impact of misconceptions and misinformation involving autism.

“I’ve been able to live kind of the real life side too, and been able to see how harmful misinformation can be,” Hitt said, “There’s a lot more fear in families to get a diagnosis and have the label.”

President Donald Trump falsely claimed the drug acetaminophen causes autism. While his statements are based on clinical studies, the scientific community agrees that the causation between the drug and ASD is not proven. Hitt debates the meaning of causation vs correlation between acetaminophen and ASD.

“Correlation versus causation, I think, is important when we talk about this, because correlation means that two things are potentially connected,” Hitt said. “They’re just two things that are identified, or can potentially be identified together sometimes. Versus causation, which would be saying this causes this. We know that this will make this happen.”

In her career, Hitt has watched situations just like Tylenol allegations scar families into not even want to seek a diagnosis. She says this can impact not only a family but the entire ASD community. With the loss of support so many are fighting for, it becomes more challenging to educate people on the truth.

“I think originally I saw this need of wanting people to have support, people needing the ability to have a different opinion, to be able to be open about things, and maybe not be perfect,” Hitt said.

With the decline of families wanting a diagnosis, she has worked hard to spread information throughout the community to ensure that people understand the true experience that autism entails, correcting the information being told to this nation by what she sees as uneducated individuals.

“I’m hoping that as a field, we can continue to push back and make sure that the correct information is out there,” Hitt said. “and that people continue to seek the support and care that they need.”