Members of the autism community are pushing back against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to find the cause for autism by September, calling the plan harmful.
Kennedy announced last week that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will launch a “massive testing and research effort” to find the cause of autism spectrum disorder in the next five months. He then followed up earlier this week by stating in a press conference that the agency would have “some answers” by then.
During the Wednesday press conference, Kennedy stressed that HHS would investigate an “environmental toxin” he believes is causing rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, contradicting what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes is contributing to the increased prevalence of the condition.
The Autism Society of America’s Chief Marketing Officer Kristyn Roth described Kennedy’s focus on an environmental toxin as “incredibly misleading” and his commitment to finding a definitive cause of autism spectrum disorder as harmful to the autism community.
“While more research is needed, there has been no discussion about actually serving this community to be better supported, included and to have services that reflect the diversity across the spectrum,” Roth told The Hill.
The CDC published a report earlier this week that found 1 in 31 children in the United States were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2022, continuing a trend of rising prevalence from previous years. The report noted that the increasing rate was likely linked to improved diagnostic methods that have become more widely available.
But Kennedy expressed skepticism that improved diagnostics are the reason for the rise, telling reporters that it has to be environmental and there is no genetic link to the condition.
“One of the things I think we need to move away from today is this ideology that the autism prevalence increases, the relentless increases, are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition, or changing diagnostic criteria,” he said.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. It can provide a vulnerability. You need an environmental toxin.”
Research suggests that autism spectrum disorder stems from a combination of genetic factors and environmental influences. Autism researcher and clinician Doreen Samelson said that over 100 genes have been identified as being associated with autism spectrum disorder.
“I think the term epidemic implies a single identified cause, but I don’t think autism works that way,” she said. “It’s a complex, life-long condition, and since we have moved to kind of a spectrum we are really viewing a very broad population with a lot of diversity within that population.”
Roth added that the Trump administration’s cuts to the Department of Education and HHS and proposed cuts to Medicaid are in “direct opposition” to Kennedy’s claim that he wants to support the autism community and find out more about the condition.
Amid the administration’s broader efforts to slash the size and scope of the federal government, it has carried out mass firings at HHS and the Education Department and signaled it intends to make much deeper cuts at both agencies. An initial draft of the White House budget request reportedly calls for reducing HHS’s budget by a third, while Trump has signed an executive order seeking to dismantle the Education Department entirely.
The recently passed House budget resolution, meanwhile, proposes cutting up to $800 billion or more from Medicaid over the next 10 years as way to help pay for tax cuts.
Instead of cutting government spending or proposing studies to find “environmental toxins” contributing to autism, she said, there should be more investments in rigorous, peer-reviewed science to find out more about the condition.
Kennedy’s language when speaking about HHS’s plan to find a cause for autism spectrum disorder is also “harmful,” Roth said, particularly his comments suggesting that those with the condition will never be productive members of society.
Kennedy falsely claimed during the press conference this week that most cases of autism spectrum disorder are now severe and that the condition “destroys families.”
“These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go on a date,” he told reporters. “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we need to recognize that we are doing this to our children.”
Roth called the comments “inaccurate” and said that Kennedy mischaracterized an entire community.
“So many people know and love someone [with autism] who can do all of those things.”
Since autism falls along a spectrum, there are many people with the condition who achieve complete independence, while others might need constant care. But even those people, Roth added, can lead “meaningful, quality lives.”
“To insinuate and define people’s experiences and inaccurately claim that autism destroys families is so harmful and destructive.”
