Helen Tager-Flusberg
@htagerf.bsky.social
Semi-retired BU dev cog psycho ling. Focus on autism
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
“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
By @drdebhoury.bsky.social @drdemetre.bsky.social & Dan Jernigan
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.
www.ms.now
November 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
“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
By @drdebhoury.bsky.social @drdemetre.bsky.social & Dan Jernigan
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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
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...
www.science.org
November 23, 2025 at 11:54 AM
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
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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.
Coalition of Autism Scientists | "autism scientists"
The Coalition of Autism Scientists formed in 2025 and is comprised of the leading autism researchers across the United States. The website includes statements made by researchers and science-based edu...
www.coalitionofautismscientists.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:42 PM
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.
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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.
A great example of the sunk cost fallacy in research; at which point do you stop asking non-productive research questions and admit that no further research is warranted as there just is not much effects of importance there?
The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA
@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 3:11 PM
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.
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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 🐦🐦
I'm still chewing on a few things that seemed to get short shrift 1/4 🐦🐦
November 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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 🐦🐦
I'm still chewing on a few things that seemed to get short shrift 1/4 🐦🐦
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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
promise to retract it www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
This is how @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social pollutes the literature with junk
Opinion | A Journal Promised to Retract a Flawed Autism Study. It's Still Online.
Junk science leaves an indelible mark
www.medpagetoday.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:52 AM
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
promise to retract it www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
This is how @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social pollutes the literature with junk
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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🙂.]
🗣️🧬🧪
[Will also make a Bsky explainer 🧵 on it next week when I get some time🙂.]
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 ...
pubs.asha.org
October 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM
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🙂.]
🗣️🧬🧪
[Will also make a Bsky explainer 🧵 on it next week when I get some time🙂.]
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... w @chrismmcox.bsky.social
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...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... w @chrismmcox.bsky.social
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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/...
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.
www.medscape.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:12 AM
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/...
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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.🧬🗣️🔬🧪
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.
www.nature.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
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.🧬🗣️🔬🧪
"Earlier- & later-diagnosed autism have different developmental trajectories & genetic profiles. The findings have important implications for how we conceptualize autism & provide a model to explain some of its diversity." @vw1234.bsky.social & an international team report today in @nature.com: 👇🧪
Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis - Nature
A study of several longitudinal birth cohorts and cross-sectional cohorts finds only moderate overlap in genetic variants between autism that is diagnosed earlier and that diagnosed later, so they may represent aetiologically different conditions.
www.nature.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:48 PM
A rewarding start to my day!
Washington Journal
#CSPAN #CSPANWJ
Skeet at @c-span.bsky.social and cspanwj.bsky.social
Joining Center for Autism Research Excellence (CARE) Director Helen Tager-Flusberg @htagerf.bsky.social to discuss #autism, efforts to increase understanding of autism disorders.
WATCH: tinyurl.com/m8h3uzv7
#CSPAN #CSPANWJ
Skeet at @c-span.bsky.social and cspanwj.bsky.social
Joining Center for Autism Research Excellence (CARE) Director Helen Tager-Flusberg @htagerf.bsky.social to discuss #autism, efforts to increase understanding of autism disorders.
WATCH: tinyurl.com/m8h3uzv7
September 27, 2025 at 10:23 PM
A rewarding start to my day!
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
Tylenol maker Kenvue is reeling after unsupported claims that its popular drug causes autism. Kennedy is unlikely to stop there.
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.
www.forbes.com
September 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Tylenol maker Kenvue is reeling after unsupported claims that its popular drug causes autism. Kennedy is unlikely to stop there.
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard’s Public Health Dean Was Paid $150,000 to Testify Tylenol Causes Autism | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea A. Baccarelli received at least $150,000 to testify against Tylenol’s manufacturer in 2023 — two years before he published research used by the Trump admini...
www.thecrimson.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:49 PM
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...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...
Opinion | ‘This May Be the Most Difficult Day in My Career’: Experts React to Trump’s Autism Remarks
www.nytimes.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:45 PM
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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
Here's Autism Science Foundation's statement...
Statement from Autism Science Foundation Regarding Wall Street Journal Report “RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies” - Autism Science Foundation
(September 5, 2025, 4:00 pm ET) This afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will announce later this month that Tylenol has been identified as a cause of...
autismsciencefoundation.org
September 5, 2025 at 9:43 PM
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...
Here's Autism Science Foundation's statement...
How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s Anti-Vax Agenda Is Infecting America
August 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM
How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s Anti-Vax Agenda Is Infecting America
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
+ 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...
Week 32
Aug 23-29, 2025 - on persistence vs consistence
buttondown.com
August 30, 2025 at 2:26 PM
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...
+ 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...
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
I have initial confirmation of a CDC walkout happening - will be looking for news coverage & more details.
Massive walkout underway at CDC.
RFK jr. must resign so that we can be safe.
RFK jr. must resign so that we can be safe.
August 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I have initial confirmation of a CDC walkout happening - will be looking for news coverage & more details.
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.
Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.
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
August 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.
Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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:👇🗣️🧬🧪
De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering - Molecular Psychiatry
Molecular Psychiatry - De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering
www.nature.com
August 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
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:👇🗣️🧬🧪
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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."
"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."
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed?
Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation
www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7
🧵1/18
August 21, 2025 at 10:52 AM
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."
"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
August 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Interesting critique
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
docs.google.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Please sign! Science funding got strong support from the Senate but is now in the House! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Helen Tager-Flusberg
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...
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...
docs.google.com
August 7, 2025 at 8:38 PM
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...