Archive - Jill Escher

Why the High Rates of Autism in the U.S. Somali Community? A Hypothesis

The Somali community in Minnesota has long been reported to have unusually high rates of autism among their children — a shocking 1 in 16 at last count…

Jul 11 •

June 2025

Which Studies Actually Show a Strong Association Between Exposures and Autism?

In epidemiology, the "odds ratio" tells you something about the association between an exposure and an outcome. But where do we see the high ORs in…

Jun 13 •

Looking for Autism in All the Wrong Places

The NIH's new autism research program is an exercise in throwing darts. Instead it should be following the signposts lit by decades of scientific…

Jun 12 •

May 2025

The NIH's New Autism Initiative Opens the Door to Research on Epigenetic Risk

A $50 million program is going beyond genes to find answers about what's causing rising prevalence of autism, emphasizing a need to look at…

May 28 •

Trump is right, or at least right-ish. The root of autism "has to be something on the outside. It has to be artificially induced."

Despite media grousing, the president's remarks state simply state an obvious idea. And the very last words of the MAHA Report — Precision Toxicology …

May 23 •

Drugs, Abilify and Autism

Pharma is in the news today so let's talk about an almost-wonder drug for severe autism.

May 12 •

The Autism Wars are flaring, so that means I've been in the media quite a bit lately

But will some good come out of the media frenzy?

May 1 •

April 2025

RFK Jr's press conference today — some good, some bad, some ugly

We should be grateful that the health secretary is pounding the podium about the reality of the epidemic. We should only hope he opens his mind to…

Apr 16 •

RFK Jr. is right to say there’s an autism epidemic

Today the CDC announces autism rates have surpassed 3% of U.S. children, including 5% of boys. The health secretary may be wrong on vaccines, but the…

Apr 15 •

Another idea for solving the puzzle of autism: put DOGE on it

Big data and AI may make progress where traditional science has failed

Apr 1 •

March 2025

Something Incredible: Broadway's Book of Mormon Plumbs the Deepest of Truths

After 14 years on Broadway, it's time to reflect on the real message of this masterpiece: human action is merely the end product of stupid stories.

Mar 8 •

Is Dr. Rachel Levine a DES Son?

In the 1950s and 60s, millions of male fetuses were exposed to diethylstilbestrol, or DES, a potent estrogenic pregnancy drug.

Mar 7 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts