Okay, But Why is RFK Jr. so Obsessed with Autism?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, recently announced that he’d be “revealing” the “cause of autism” this month. It’s true that rates of diagnosis have gone up over the past 20 years — from 1 in 150 kids to 1 in 31 — but autism advocates are worried that Kennedy’s mission will do more harm than good. 

In the past, RFK Jr. has spread disinformation about vaccines, including exhaustively disproven links to autism. (Seriously, we’re talking thousands of studies on millions of patients. Vaccines do not cause autism!) Now the Wall Street Journal has reported that his new theory is about the use of Tylenol in pregnancy. But just last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a huge study proving that Tylenol isn’t linked to autism or ADHD.

Most doctors believe that autism is caused by genetics, and kids with a sibling or parent who’s autistic are more likely to be diagnosed themselves. A study published in 2019 estimated the heritability of autism at about 80%, about the same as the heritability of height. So then… what’s causing the spike in autism? The answer is simple: we’re getting better at diagnosing it.

Doctors have especially made strides in diagnosing women and girls. Autistic girls often struggle more internally than externally and their response may look like shyness, which our society finds more acceptable in girls than in boys. Across all genders and ages, no two people with autism are exactly the same. If RFK Jr. actually talked to anyone with autism, he might realize that he’s pushing stereotypes and disinformation.

And on top of all that, RFK Jr. and Trump have actually cut more than 50 federal research projects on autism, firing scientists who have been working on this for years. If they really wanted to help people with autism, why would they cut that funding?

In this week’s episode of Okay, But Why, we’re exploring what we do and don’t know about autism, busting myths and disinformation, and hearing from actual autistic people in their own words.

For a transcript of this episode, please email comms@redwine.blue.

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Transcript

Okay, But Why Is RFK Jr. So Obsessed With Autism?

CLIP: Kid speaking at a school board meeting: “Recently the US Secretary of Health, RFK Jr, made false statements about autism, like people with autism are broken. But that’s not true. I have autism, and I’m not broken. I want everyone to know that people with autism and other disabilities are not tragedies, but just different, like all people.” 

Narration: That’s Teddy. He’s a fourth-grader in New Jersey, and he also happens to have autism. He’s one of the millions of Americans with autism who are pushing back against comments made by Robert F Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy promised Trump that he would “reveal the cause of autism” by this month, September. Here’s how that conversation went down.

CLIP: Trump: “The autism is such a tremendous horror show, what’s happening in our country and some other countries, but mostly our country. How are you doing on that?”
RFK Jr.: “We are doing very well. We will have announcements, as promised, in September. We are finding interventions that are clearly, almost certainly, causing autism, and we’re going to be able to address those in September.”

Narration: Many autism advocates – and people with autism themselves, like Teddy – say Kennedy’s mission is misinformed and even dangerous. So what’s the truth? Are autism rates rising? Do we know why? Is it even something that needs to be “cured”? And in fact, let’s start at the ground level: what is autism?

Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a neurodevelopmental condition that’s characterized by a few common factors: difficulties with social interaction or communication, sensitivities to sensory info like sounds or smells, and having really specific interests or repetitive behaviors. No two people with autism are exactly the same – there’s a huge range of struggles and strengths across the 7 million or so Americans with autism. While some are diagnosed as early as the age of 1, many people aren’t diagnosed until much later in life.

The variety in symptoms across autistic people can’t be emphasized enough. When many people hear the word “autism,” they think of someone who’s significantly disabled – like Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man. They might even think of someone who can’t speak at all. And sure, some autistic kids and adults are nonverbal. Around 25% of people with autism don’t speak, but “nonverbal” and “non-communicating” are not at all the same thing. Many nonverbal autistic people use other types of communication like writing, gestures, or high-tech communication devices. Some communicate in other ways, like through art or music. Meanwhile, a large percentage of people are able to “mask” their autism in public, but that can lead to depression, anxiety, and even losing their sense of self.

Stereotypes about autistic people have led to confusion and harm, from what parents expect from their autistic child to what strangers expect from an autistic adult. How many adults have heard “you can’t have autism, you seem fine!” from someone they’ve just met? And RFK Jr’s war on autism has only increased these stereotypes and fears. There are some risks associated with autism that are actual medical problems, like issues with sleeping or eating, as well as differences in learning styles. But it isn’t a disease or an illness; many people with autism say they love the way their mind works and they wouldn’t want a “cure,” even if such a thing existed. To frame it like that implies that they’re wrong or broken, rather than just different.

So do we know what causes autism? Not really. Trump and RFK Jr. are right about one thing – diagnoses have risen dramatically over the past 20 years. According to the CDC, about 1 in 31 kids are now diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 150 in the year 2000. Even though decades of research shows there isn’t a single chemical or environmental cause, Kennedy seems obsessed with finding one rather than listening to scientists. He’s actually cut more than 50 federal research projects on autism, firing scientists who have been working on this for years.

Most doctors believe that autism is caused by genetics, and in fact kids with a sibling or parent who’s autistic are more likely to be diagnosed themselves. A study published in 2019 estimated the heritability of autism at about 80% — about the same as the heritability of height. It’s possible that there are some environmental risks that could increase the likelihood of certain genes being activated, especially in pregnancy, but we haven’t been able to prove a link to any specific chemical. 

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal last week, Kennedy's upcoming announcement will suggest that the use of acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, is potentially linked to autism, but most scientists and doctors don't agree. A huge study of almost 200,000 children published just last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed no increased risk of autism or ADHD based on moms taking Tylenol while pregnant. Again, it's all really complicated, but last year's study concluded yet again that the main risk factor is genetics.

What we know for sure is that it’s not vaccines. Scientists in America and across the world have studied this for decades and have found absolutely zero connection between vaccines and autism. The claim originated from a single paper by a British doctor in 1998, but the paper had so many problems that it was soon retracted. He only used a sample size of 12 kids, as opposed to the millions of patients who have been studied since then. But the myth had already taken hold and now our Secretary of Health and Human Services is out here claiming connections that are just not there.

It’s understandable why some parents are drawn into disinformation like this. Parenting is hard, and we’re desperate for any information that could help us raise happy healthy kids. But now we live in a country where parents would rather risk their kids dying from preventable diseases like the measles rather than risk developing autism, something that isn’t fatal and – again – isn’t caused by vaccines. Real children in America are dying because of stigma and disinformation.

So if it’s definitely not vaccines, and it’s probably not environmental factors, why are autism diagnoses on the rise? The main reason is simple: we’re getting better at diagnosing it. Researchers say that most of the rise in cases of autism are in kids and adults who, even just 20 years ago, would never have talked to a doctor about autism in the first place. There’s especially been a rise in women who are getting diagnosed with autism later in life, because until recently, doctors didn’t realize that it often presents differently depending on gender. There isn’t a simple test for autism, like a blood test. It’s diagnosed based on behavior, and autistic girls often struggle more internally than externally. They’re more likely to develop anxiety or depression, and their response may look like shyness — which our society finds more acceptable in girls than in boys.

But it’s not just doctors who are better educated on autism now. More parents and teachers are on the lookout for signs of autism when 30 years ago, a kid might’ve been simply called “difficult” or “shy.” And contrary to what Trump and RFK said in that meeting, rates aren’t just going up in America – they’re increasing around the world, especially in countries like Japan and Norway that have similar criteria for diagnosis as the United States. 

Far from this being a problem, it’s good that more kids and adults are getting diagnosed with autism – because without a diagnosis, they can’t be provided with the support they need. There are as many different kinds of support as there are people with autism, because again no two autistic people are exactly the same, but it can take the form of speech therapy, extra time on tests at school, special communication devices, or just better insight for autistic people into how their own mind works. 

Speaking of, you know who it doesn’t seem like RFK Jr. has been talking to as he battles the so-called epidemic of autism? Actual autistic people. People like Ashley, who had this response to Kennedy’s insulting and weirdly specific claim that autistic people will “never write a poem.”

CLIP: Ashley: “He says I am preventable. A problem, a disease. 
He claims that what I share with my children destroys families. 
To him, I could never be anything, among flowers a weed most pale. 
Deeply feeling, pattern seeking, my clever mind a cautionary tale. 
Look out, he warns, kids like me will never write a poem. 
But here I managed to scratch one out - I can’t wait to show him. 
Won’t he be surprised when he reads ‘roses are red, violets are blue.
I love my whole autistic self. RFK, **** you.’”


Sources

https://learnbehavioral.com/blog/myth-nonverbal-or-nonspeaking-people-with-autism-are-intellectually-disabled

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10080257/

https://www.ssmhealth.com/treffert-center/conditions-treatments/savant-syndrome#:~:text=How%20common%20is%20savant%20syndrome,rate%20of%20less%20than%201%25.

https://www.goldenstepsaba.com/resources/what-percentage-of-autism-is-high-functioning

https://www.mastermindbehavior.com/post/strengths-and-abilities-in-autism

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02636-1

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/is-there-an-autism-epidemic#:~:text=Autism%20diagnosis%20rates%20have%20risen,explains%20what's%20behind%20the%20increase.&text=Over%20the%20past%2020%20years,for%20Autism%20and%20Developmental%20Disabilities.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352928#:~:text=Genetics.,risk%20of%20autism%20spectrum%20disorder.

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