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- Beany Brain #62: The Blame Game (When a Game Is Not Fun and Games), and The Image of God
Beany Brain #62: The Blame Game (When a Game Is Not Fun and Games), and The Image of God
Abigail Munday
October 08, 2025
Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!
Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.
Table of Contents
Photo by Abigail Munday
Thoughts on Blame
I’m just gonna jump right in, folks, and tackle the Tylenol.
If you’re neurodivergent and in the US or even neurodivergent and overseas, you’ve seen the latest scapegoat for the cause of autism: acetaminophen.
(Some people can’t even pronounce it. Ahem.)
There is no hard scientific evidence that this is the case.
It’s yet another time that moms get blamed for their children’s disabilities.
In the past, mothers of autistic children have been called “refrigerator moms,” implying that they were too cold toward their kids and that caused autism. Parents giving their kids vaccines have been blamed. (Again, no valid link between vaccines and autism. The UK doctor who made that up lost his license to practice medicine.)
Then there’s the current “overdiagnosing” blame trend.
Historically, women and minorities have been underdiagnosed. And the first autism diagnosis wasn’t even until 1943. (Acetaminophen came on the market in the 1950s.) More modern diagnostic criteria have led to more diagnoses, yes, but folks in the past who were “weird” or nonverbal or had meltdowns were shoved into insane asylums. Or kept home and out of sight. Or bullied in regular schools.
Undiagnosed people also solved difficult math conundrums and created world-famous and beloved art. They wrote books. They philosophized. They had babies who were also autistic.
All before the invention of Tylenol. And before many vaccines were around.
Ha Ha Haiku
My aim is to share a funny haiku with you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.
by George Ochsenfeld in Medium
Photo by Susan, my mama
The Image of God
She’s my hero and the reason I stopped believing that the death penalty was right and just.
Sister Helen sees the image of God in every person.
How does this relate to Beany Brain and neurodivergencies, you ask? Aren’t you getting too political, you ask?
Well, for one thing, politics is how a society runs. It’s how we relate to each other; how we make decisions together.
We can agree or disagree.
I disagree with the current US Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Notice one of the words in his job title is “human.”
He has said that “autism destroys families,” and that autistic people are not productive members of society.
In painting autism as tragedy, and for the reasons given, RFK Jr. is getting one of the essential facts about humanity wrong.
What is it that gives you value? Is it your productivity? Your abilities and capacities? Your seeming independence? You would be hard-pressed (though some have tried) to make a biblical case for those as fundamental markers of inherent human dignity or value.
Do we see the image of God in people that we look down upon?
Do we see the image of God in folks we consider disabled and unworthy?
Do we see the image of God in poverty-stricken men and women on death row?
Do we see the image of God in single parents?
Do we see the image of God in people who’ve been mean to us?
Do we see the image of God in nonbinary and genderqueer people?
Do we see the image of God in homeless folks?
Do we see the image of God in people with neo-Nazi tattoos?
Do we see the image of God in nosy neighbors?
Do we see the image of God in misogynistic and patriarchal pastors?
Do we see the image of God in immigrants in detention camps? Or the ones mowing your yard or caring for your elderly parents or harvesting your cabbages?
Do we see the image of God in veterans with PTSD?
Do we see the image of God in human leaders twisted by lust for even more money and power and attention?
Do we see the image of God in people we disagree with?
Ian Lasch goes on to say:
I wish I could say that RFK Jr.’s style of deficit- or tragedy-based framing for autism was rare, but it is unfortunately all too common. Even if this doesn’t eventually lead us down the path to eugenics, negative framing still adversely impacts the mental health of autistic people and caregivers. What if instead, we rejected this negative view in favor of viewing autistic people the way God views them: as worthy of bearing God’s own image? What if we sought out the inherent and God-given value of autism and autistic people, not despite them being autistic, but because of it? What if there is something about autism and autistic experience that somehow shows us more about who God is, that we might not otherwise see?
Do we see the image of God in neurodivergent individuals and families?
Photo by Abigail Munday
Yeehawesome!
Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?
Coca-Cola from Mexico and in a glass bottle. Real sugar! Not the high fructose corn syrup stuff.
I was watching “The Return of the King” movie with my parents and got reminded of the Annie Lennox song during the final credits: Into the West. She’s one of my favorite singers ever. And what a song.
Ellie Kildunne is an English rugby player and has ADHD. In an interview in GQ UK, she says:
What helps you switch off?
Since I've understood my ADHD, I've been able to slow down a little bit in my head. Rather than using my phone, I've got a notebook for everything. One for outfit ideas, I've got my to-do list, which is like my brain. I've got my World Cup book with all our moves and now I've got what I call a blurt book, so anything that's heavy on me, it goes in there and is out in my head. I remember someone saying a lot of people write down to remember and some people write down to forget.
When did you get diagnosed?
Earlier this year because I was struggling to sleep at times. My brain was working really fast or I wasn’t quite able to verbalise something that I'd seen on the pitch so I was frustrated with myself. Since then, I just feel this level of feeling understood. Once you understand yourself, you can feel more comfortable in your skin rather than asking questions all the time of why is this this?
I honestly never had much confidence to learn chess, but I’m doing it in Duolingo (they just added it the other day), and I’m doing well! Step by step. Capture by capture.
Quote of the Week
Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness
source unknown
Wonderful Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Today’s Beany-full Summary:
The current blame game for acetaminophen causing autism comes in a long line of false accusations.
In whom do we see or not see God’s image?
Go forthin Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?
Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.
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