Helen Tager-Flusberg

Congress is currently considering a piece of legislation that would effectively sever all scientific ties between the US and China. Unbelievable.

You can read the AAU response here:
www.aau.edu/key-issues/a...

We are former CDC officials. RFK Jr.'s change to vaccine guidance is propaganda. Under Secretary Kennedy, CDC materials can no longer be assumed to reflect scientific authority.

“The rewriting of CDC’s guidance is not a routine update. It is a warning. If scientific consensus can be erased with a keystroke & replaced with politically curated doubt, institutions meant to safeguard national health are at risk.“
By @drdebhoury.bsky.social @drdemetre.bsky.social & Dan Jernigan

What enables human language? A biocultural framework Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...

Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n

The Coalition of Autism Scientists does not support new information published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on November 19, 2025 linking vaccination and autism as it is misleading and not evidence-based.

Agree, but I think it goes beyond sunk costs - there's something about autism that is a magnet for research on hot topics - the hot topic being one where you can always find *something* and which sounds exciting. In this case microbiome. I reckon the life cycle of these things is at least 25 years.

lots of invigorating discussion this year at #BUCLD2025. Unsurprisingly, LLMs as models & as tools made many appearances w/a wide range of views/claims/caveats ab what they can(not) tell us ab language development
I'm still chewing on a few things that seemed to get short shrift 1/4 🐦🐦

Opinion | A Journal Promised to Retract a Flawed Autism Study. It's Still Online. Junk science leaves an indelible mark

hopeless autism study still up in J Pers Med despite
promise to retract it www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
This is how @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social pollutes the literature with junk

Genomic Investigations of Spoken and Written Language Abilities: A Guide to Advances in Approaches, Technologies, and Discovery Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to show how the rise of molecular technologies and analytical methods in human genetics yields exciting new ...

If you're interested in how advances in human genomics are transforming our understanding of the biology of spoken & written language abilities, please do check out my new peer-reviewed "tutorial" article, just published.
🗣️🧬🧪
[Will also make a Bsky explainer 🧵 on it next week when I get some time🙂.]

Social Context Matters for Turn‐Taking Dynamics: A Comparative Study of Autistic and Typically Developing Children Engaging in fluent conversation is a surprisingly complex task that requires interlocutors to promptly respond to each other in a way that is appropriate to the social context. In this study, we dise...

Conversational turn-taking feels effortless, but it's a complex dance. We find social context—who you're talking to and what you're talking about—fundamentally changes conversational dynamics in both autistic & TD children. 1/

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... w @chrismmcox.bsky.social

What Using Our Hands While Speaking Reveals About Our Brains Researchers now have fascinating insights into how our brains function while we communicate — and our hand gestures hold the key.

Happy with this popular science article about our work (with @lindadrijvers.bsky.social and @judithholler.bsky.social), showing that listeners use co-speech hand gestures to predict upcoming meaning ✋ www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

SETBP1 variants outside the degron disrupt DNA-binding, transcription and neuronal differentiation capacity to cause a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder - Nature Communications Different types of SETBP1 variants cause variable developmental syndromes with only partial clinical and functional overlaps. Here, the authors report that SETBP1 variants outside the degron region impair DNA-binding, transcription, and neuronal differentiation capacity and morphologies.

New paper alert! Rare DNA changes in the SETBP1 gene are linked to speech problems & diverse syndromes affecting brain development. Work led by ace postdoc @maggiemkwong.bsky.social uncovered impact of different gene variants, coupling clinical/speech evaluation to molecular & cellular readouts.🧬🗣️🔬🧪

A rewarding start to my day!

RFK Jr. Is Targeting Vaccines And Tylenol. Are Prozac And Ozempic Next? Tylenol maker Kenvue is reeling after unsupported claims that its popular drug causes autism. Kennedy is unlikely to stop there.

Tylenol maker Kenvue is reeling after unsupported claims that its popular drug causes autism. Kennedy is unlikely to stop there.

Baccarelli was paid $700/hour for his work on a case against Tylenol. I will charge $0/hour to tell courts, FDA, and everyone else that correlations can arise from latent variables in the absence of a direct causal relationship.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Opinion | ‘This May Be the Most Difficult Day in My Career’: Experts React to Trump’s Autism Remarks

Gift article for any uniformed friends or family: experts overwhelmingly agree that the apparent increase in autism in USA is due to broader inclusion criteria and diagnoses. It is NOT caused by tylenol or vaccines
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...

Nice to see organizations like the @autismsciencefd.bsky.social and @defendpublichealth.bsky.social getting ahead of these potential forthcoming claims in RFK Jr.'s eventual autism report. More of this needed and in other forums too. 🛟😷🧪 sociology

Here's Autism Science Foundation's statement...

How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s Anti-Vax Agenda Is Infecting America

Week 32 Aug 23-29, 2025 - on persistence vs consistence

Each Friday, I write up the impacts to science 🧪& higher ed. This was Week 32:

+ Chaos & courage as CDC Director Monarez fired & 4 top leaders resign
+ FDA limits COVID vax eligibility, pharmacies restricting access
+ pocket rescission, sad research shut downs & more

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

I have initial confirmation of a CDC walkout happening - will be looking for news coverage & more details.

RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That. While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals,...

www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.

De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering

Developmental stuttering involves speech disfluencies (blocks, prolongations, repetitions). We sequenced all protein-coding genes of 85 parent-child trios in which the child stuttered, & found (likely) pathogenic DNA variants in 4 genes also implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. New paper:👇🗣️🧬🧪

Really amazing work that challenges some long-held beliefs about cortical plasticity.

"We show adult sensory body maps are unaltered after amputation, suggesting deprivation-driven plasticity is even more marginal than argued by the strongest opponents of cortical reorganization."

Interesting critique

CE-Letter to Congress Requesting Protection of Science Funding in the FY26 Budget To: The Honorable Members of the United States Congress Dear Honorable Senators and Representatives, We write in our individual capacities as U.S. citizens to urge you to prevent the far-reaching cons...

Please sign! Science funding got strong support from the Senate but is now in the House! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

CE-Letter to Congress Requesting Protection of Science Funding in the FY26 Budget To: The Honorable Members of the United States Congress Dear Honorable Senators and Representatives, We write in our individual capacities as U.S. citizens to urge you to prevent the far-reaching cons...

A letter signed by thoysands of members of the National Academies but also open for community endorsement . Please sign! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Excited to co-host this workshop! Lots of great speakers and opportunities to learn about best practices for fNIRS research with autistic children

Why are American kids getting sicker? What MAHA gets wrong about kids’ health.

We're taking major steps back in #publichealth and instead of addressing the important issues we're creating more distractions. #SDOH

Why are American kids getting sicker? www.vox.com/life/421703/... by @annanorth.bsky.social via @vox.com CC: @laurenwisk.bsky.social @htagerf.bsky.social

A remarkable lack of perspective taking!

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned under RFK Jr. Seventeen experts ousted from a U.S. vaccine committee are expressing little faith in what the panel has become.

Ousted members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices describe RFK Jr.’s first meeting—featuring anti-vaccine presenters pushing unfounded claims.

They now call for the creation of an independent vaccine panel outside the federal government.

zurl.co/x2itL