The year I was born, US physician Jonas Salk tested the vaccine for polio on himself and his family. The following year, clinical trials were held involving 1.6 million children in the US, Canada, and Finland. The results of that trial were announced in the spring of the following year, and the vaccine was licensed. I can’t remember the first time I received the vaccine. I have a vague memory of an oral vaccine, which was probably not the Salk vaccine, but rather another one developed by Albert Sabin. Two years after the Salk vaccine was licensed, the annual number of polio cases dropped from 58,000 to 5,600. A decade later, only 161 cases remained.

Polio is an ancient disease. There are ancient Egyptian images showing children with malformed limbs walking with canes. The year before I was born, a polio outbreak killed over 3,000 people in the US. Beyond those killed by the disease, thousands more were paralyzed. Treatments were devised, including the use of an iron lung to aid breathing, but no cure was found.

The medical breakthrough that turned the tide on this disease was the development of an effective vaccine. Dr. Salk never sought profit from the vaccine. In a 1955 interview, he was asked who owned the patent for the vaccine. He replied, “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

Several other vaccines have enhanced my life. I have avoided tetanus even though I have had injuries where the bacteria could have entered my body. The injection I now receive every ten years also protects me from diphtheria and pertussis. Because of my age, I am now considered to be “at risk,” and therefore receive a high-dose flu vaccine each year. Although I know it does not provide complete immunity, I have received COVID vaccinations according to the schedule recommended by my doctor, including the updated 2025-26 vaccine administered yesterday.

I have listened to arguments against vaccination, but I have not been persuaded that they are backed by the same rigorous scientific inquiry that has produced the vaccines and the schedule of recommended vaccinations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is a challenge, however, to participate in current public debates over vaccines because there are so many high-profile speakers, including governmental authorities who not only lack scientific discipline and training but also do not rely on experts for information and guidance.

Despite a rambling press conference by the US President, there is no evidence of a connection between Acetaminophen and autism. Unlike polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, flu, and COVID, autism is not a disease. It is not “caused.” Autism refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by variations in social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. There is no single type of autism. It can be helpful to think of autism as a spectrum. Autism spectrum disorder is the preferred way of referring to a set of conditions that appear different in each person affected by it. People with autism need varying levels of support, depending on how the condition affects them. Some people who live with autism have other conditions that can be medically treated.

I am not a doctor. I am not a biologist or researcher. I am not an expert in Autism. What I am is a person who lives in a community with friends who have been identified as being on the autism spectrum. I am grateful for these people in my life, and I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in a world without autism. I do, however, support research to understand better the conditions associated with autism. Understanding can lead to supports that help people with autism pursue their dreams and lead the lives they choose.

We human beings are incredibly complex. There are a few simple solutions to the problems we face. One of the tools we have in dealing with life’s challenges is generational wisdom. We have benefited from the information gathered and insights developed by those who lived before our time, and we have a responsibility to add to their knowledge and pass it on to future generations. Until the current administration was inaugurated, we could count on governmental agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Library of Medicine to be stewards of our collective knowledge and wisdom. However, current policies of replacing experts with those whose only qualifications are loyalty to the President and the ability to garner media attention threaten our collective ability to retain the information and experience of previous generations. It is especially alarming that these leadership changes have been accompanied by direct attacks on universities, which have traditionally been centers of sharing research and wisdom.

The challenges of the current political situation are not the first or only challenges that research and discovery have faced. In our country, we have a heightened awareness of the precariousness of our situation in part because the rise of authoritarianism has been so sudden and dramatic. And now, the administration and the party that controls the legislature seem intent on creating a government shutdown as an excuse for more dramatic firings of dedicated public servants and more drastic cuts to genuine research and discovery.

In response, I am trying to hone my critical thinking skills. I try to practice judgment and discernment as I wade through the barrage of information from the Internet. I write essays every day without the use of large language models, also known as artificial intelligence. I am only one person, but I belong to a community of individuals who continue to engage in challenging research and critical thinking. In the face of the challenges posed by the disintegration of constitutional democracy, individuals and informal groups of concerned citizens are becoming increasingly essential stewards of research and generational wisdom.

And I try to retain my sense of humor. As it turns out, I haven’t needed any medication for the slight pain of yesterday’s injection. Had I felt the need, however, the medicine of choice for me would have been Tylenol. Unlike some public figures, I am willing to trust clinical trials and careful research. Also, unlike those figures, I don’t fear autism or those on the spectrum.