A new news article entitled: COVID pregnancies may have boosted autism risk, study shows outlines the recent research of Dr. Karin Nielsen, a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases, UCLA Children’s Hospital.

Neilson wanted to understand how COVID-19 may affect pregnant people and their unborn children. Nielsen’s most recent research studied the health of expectant birthing parents who tested positive for COVID-19. Below is a summary of her findings:

• During the General Movement Assessment, a test that evaluates early motor function, 14% of the infants showed “developmental problems.”
• At 6-8 months old, 13 of 109 infants born to infected mothers (almost 12%) had not reached developmental milestones. All infants in the control group reached milestones at the typical age.
• When the eldest of the COVID-exposed babies reached 28 months, the study found 23 of 211 children (almost 11%) “screened positive for autism” compared to 1-3% of those expected.

Neurodevelopmental differences within these children may be due to the increased risk of preterm delivery, especially for unvaccinated birthing parents (National Institute of Health, 2023). Additionally, prolonged fevers triggered by illnesses like the flu can activate the birthing parent’s immune system, creating an inflammatory environment in the uterus that can disrupt fetal brain development.

Underlining this risk is an ongoing issue of how we understand, appreciate and support children’s early development. The modern Development Milestones are based on the work of child development theorists including John Paiget. Piaget suggested that all children go through the same stages at the same ages; Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years); Preoperational Stage (2-7 years); Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years); and Formal Operational Stage (12+ years). Despite the advancement in understanding how to support children’s learning, such work has been used to imply that those “behind” are somehow defective. Unfortunately, we often see this reflected in autism research, teaching policy and practice.

This understanding also underpins diagnosis in children and infants. Infants within Neilson’s study were accessed using the Bayley III Assessment and the ASQ-3, both are used to screen for “development delays” in early childhood, with the latter being parent-led and non-clinical. How much these can tell us about the neurodivergence of children is limited: 1 in 36 (under 3%) of children screened using these tools are eventually diagnosed with autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is a general case of equating “not meeting milestones” as being Autistic, this is tricky to unpick as it speaks to many Autistic people whilst ignoring many more.

Nielsen’s study uses a relatively small sample size, with fewer than 250 birthing parent-baby pairs. A robust understanding of the virus’ impact would require research involving more than 10,000 children, which post-COVID-19 lockdowns are very difficult to access. The connection between the virus and autism remains inconclusive: some studies align with Nielsen’s findings, while others report little to no increased risk of developmental differences. Neilson’s newest paper starts: “It is unclear if SARS CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental repercussions to infants.” I don’t like the wording but I enjoy the sentiment (unfortunately health research will likely be underpinned by the medical model for some time to come).

After sensationalising the statistics and headline, the journalist finally gets to their point: “Even small increases in risk could substantially add to the global burden of chronic disease, given the sheer number of pregnancies affected.” Autistic people, and other neurodivergent and disabled people, are considered to take too much from society. We are not worthy to be here, during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK Autistic people were one of many disabled folk who were given Do Not Resuscitate orders. The framing of this article perfectly encapsulates the hatred pointed towards “unworthy” disabled people.

Neilson’s work continues to add to growing information about how COVID-19 continues to harm pregnant people and their unborn babies. Unfortunately, this journalist decided to use a skewed version of this work to undermine Autistic people and pregnancy care researchers. The misogyny and ableism are mixed into a fine slurry in this article.