Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, who has long promoted false information about autism and vaccines, proposed paying certain families of Americans with autism, referring to them as “injured.”
Kennedy stated in a social media post on April 18 that “the more than 25% of people who have severe autism will never go on a date, write a poem, live independently, or have a job. We need to identify the exposures that are causing this epidemic and compensate the families of the injured.”
In his first formal press conference on April 16, Kennedy stated that some children with autism will “never play baseball” or “write a poem.” This post follows his remarks.
He went on to say, “They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”
Kennedy’s demand for answers was praised by some, while many Americans with autism, their loved ones, and advocacy organisations widely accused him of ableism as a result of his remarks.
The diagnosis of autism spectrum condition is based on difficulties with speech, social skills, and repetitive behaviours.
Since it is a spectrum, there is a wide range of symptoms; some people have no communication skills at all, while others excel in particular spheres of life.
Kennedy explained that he was speaking to a particular quarter of people with autism.
“There are many kids with autism who are doing well. They’re holding down jobs, they’re getting pay checks, they’re living independently,” Kennedy stated. “But I was referring specifically to that 25 percent—the group that is nonverbal.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, some individuals with autism spectrum condition exhibit more serious behaviours, such as biting or head-banging, which may involve self-harm. Some people with autism might not speak.
According to the National Autism Association, approximately 40% of kids with autism are nonverbal.
In a Cabinet meeting on April 10, Kennedy assured President Donald Trump that the government would identify the source of autism by September.
“We’re gonna announce a series of new studies to identify precisely what the environmental toxins are that are causing it,” he stated. “This has not been done before.”
Kennedy added, “This is coming from an environmental toxin and somebody made it and put that environmental toxin into our air or water or medicines or food,” at the press conference held at the Pentagon’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states that some individuals with autism spectrum disorder have a genetic issue, while other causes are still unknown. Researchers have been investigating the causes of autism for decades.
Numerous studies have examined the potential link between vaccines and autism, according to the CDC, and “to date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with autism.”
According to a CDC research released on April 15, one in 31 U.S. children received an autism diagnosis by the age of eight in 2022, up from one in 36 in 2020. One in 20 boys were diagnosed with autism, and the rate in 2022 is five times higher than it was in 2000.
More widespread screening and the use of a wider variety of behaviours to describe the disease are cited by several researchers as the reasons for the increase in diagnoses.
