AFAIK, paracetamol only became freely available in the 1950s. The product went on sale in the United States in 1955 under the brand name Tylenol. In 1956, 500 mg tablets of paracetamol went on sale in the UK under the trade name Panadol. In 1963, paracetamol was added to the British Pharmacopoeia.
And yet there is evidence to suggest that many famous names from history were autistic e.g. Einstein, Newton, Michelangelo, Mozart etc. It’s only speculation, of course, based on what is known of their behavioural traits.
I would also say this. We often see threads on here started by elderly women whose husbands have always behaved in a manner which suggests they may have autism. Responses from others are often quick to suggest this.
Their age would preclude a commercial painkiller used by their mothers being responsible for any NDD.
I have a couple of male friends who are pretty sure they have autism but are of an age where they have never been assessed or diagnosed. I’m inclined to agree with them. The very intense focus on niche special interests, socially awkward, very blunt sometimes, a lack of empathy - all the usual traits. Never married. I like them very much most of the time but have learned that I have to work around the way they are.
Also, I would urge people to read Steve Silberman’s excellent book Neurotribes. He makes the point that a very large number of brillliant neurodiverse people working in Silicon Valley also have neurodiverse chidre. Evidence that this is hereditary rather than drug induced.
Of course, there may be more than one reason for NDDs. My own feeling is that the causes as well as hereditary are environmental hence the rise in numbers as well as better diagnosis.
Watch the film Dark Waters (2019) based on the true story of lawyer Rob Bilott's case against chemical company DuPont for polluting waters with PFAS (forever chemicals). The number of DuPont workers and local farmers who contracted cancer was astonishing. PFAS are still widely present in consumer goods.
There is a lot of evidence linking PFAS with NDDs.