As someone who has studied and taught students with autism for many years. I have a few things to say about this claim that acetaminophen or Tylenol is a major cause of autism.
I think a timeline, can help to explain a few things.
Acetaminophen was first synthesized in 1878 by French chemist Henri Leroux. It was later recognized for its pain-relieving properties in the early 20th century, with significant research conducted in the 1940s. Acetaminophen became widely available in the United States as a prescription medication in 1955 and was marketed under the name Tylenol in the 1960s. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) was not widely used in the USA until the 1960's.
The term "autism" was first introduced by Paul Eugen Bleuler in 1911 to describe a form of schizophrenia.
The earliest known description of autism dates back to the 18th century (The 1700's), when Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard described a boy named Victor who exhibited classic symptoms of autism.
The formal recognition of autism as a distinct condition is credited to Dr. Leo Kanner and Dr. Hans Asperger, both of whom conducted pioneering research in the early 20th century, with Kanner publishing his findings in 1943.
Autism has a long history of being researched, and undergoing changes in it's definition and symptoms. Autism Spectrum was not coined until the 1980's, and currently the Autism Spectrum includes symptoms that ranged from completely non-verbal to mentally brilliant but with social deficits. This widely ranging definition, with widely ranging symptoms accounts for the greater number of individuals being diagnosed with Autism. Keeping in mind there is not definitive test to diagnose Autism (Like a blood test), it is somewhat a subjective diagnosis that involves interviews, conversational observations, reports of symptoms, and parental descriptions.
My take-aways from this suggestion that Acetaminophen is the cause, or a cause of Autism is clearly speculative at best. First of all, the greater number of students diagnosed with Autism is NOT because of the greater number of students having the disorder, but rather the enhanced and expanded diagnosis of the disorder. The Autism Spectrum now covers multitudes of students that a couple of decades ago would not have been considered Autistic, although those students existed. How many of you in your 50's or 60's have thought back to classmates and thought, I think "so and so" might have been autistic.
The last thing I would say emphatically is there is NO CAUSE of autism, there are most likely NUMEROUS causes of autism. Autism is a spectrum (meaning widely ranging symptoms and degree of symptoms). It is misleading to claim Tylenol causes Autism, because if it caused Autism, every expecting mother taking Tylenol during pregnancy would have a child with Autism. Could it have an effect, or in combination with other things contribute to a child having Autism, possibly. But without serious research, this claim issued today is at the very least inconclusive.
This is why we need and it is important to have a person over our healthcare system that is QUALIFIEED, trained, educated, and experienced in the medical field.