These are all cruel suggestions about people, we should challenge why RFK makes statements like this. Not take them at face value, as if they merit being answered.
"And 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 out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted." ... "Most cases now are severe. Twenty-five percent of the kids who are diagnosed with autism are nonverbal, non-toilet-trained, and have other stereotypical features."
Then pbs fact-checking is questioning the "twenty-five percent".
But he was talking about severe autism, and yet this seems to be morphing somehow into "RFK Jr says George Bernard Shaw didn't exist".
Does that make sense?
We don't have a cure for autism.
We don't have a prevention for autism.
We don't have a clear cause for autism beyond recognizing that genetics play a role.
We don't even have a clear picture of the scope; one reason rates appear to be increasing is simply that we've gotten better at recognizing symptoms in previously ignored populations. But... We are probably still ignoring symptoms in some significant populations.
It is completely understandable that, as we learn more and the scope of the problem becomes more apparent, folks are alarmed and clamoring for politicians to Do Something.
...it is less apparent that there is anything productive to be done, beyond continued efforts to better understand the situation.
We (as a society) and Kennedy in particular (within his own family), have ample experience with the harms wrought by efforts to Do Something when no effective solution exists.
The diagnosis of autism grow, but mostly because a lot more people are diagnosed with autism. I don't like that sentence, but modern autism is more of a social construct than what autism used to be.
'on the spectrum' is probably to me a big lie. I've worked (as a counsellor) with genuine autistic people, non-communicative or not, and frankly if you've learned to mask and to lie on your own, with intent (I did) or naturally (most people do), you shouldn't be considered autistic. Or at least you shouldn't hide behind your diagnostic.
Insane statement for anyone in the tech industry.
Autistic folks have been with us forever, we're just way way better at finding and supporting them now.
https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/autism-data-visuali...
Also interesting to note because of RFK jr context. Notice Georgia(56.9% vaccinated) and Tennesseeeseee(56.1% vaccinated) as hotspots for autism. While Kentucky isnt a hot spot and is 73.1% routine vaccinated. This is anti-correlative to vaccines causing autism.
My Poem(downvote me if it sucks):
Georgia stands at 56,
Tennessee just barely 56,
Yet Kentucky, in the heat,
Boasts 73 is no small feat.
If vaccines brought harm, the trend would show,
But higher rates see no such blow,
The vaccine myth falls flat,
No link from science, just fears.
> It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Screw this English professor with autism - RFK's comments are literally correct if you read them. Many autistic people like my child will never speak, he's not talking about English professors with level 1 autism. Stop ignoring those of us with much greater challenges, it's so condescending.
I think you misread my politics because I think attacking RFK over this point is stupid, counterproductive, and condescending. He is going to cause harm a million ways but this is not it. He is obviously not talking about the English professor who has had a very successful life. The author is trying to do a "well actually" here and missing the entire point, as well as being literally wrong when you read the words. So even a generous, pedantic angle is stupid.
For the record, I align completely with this liberal commentary in the NYT this week, that is 10x more eloquent than I am: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/opinion/autism-rfk-parent...
