Survey on Vaccines and Autism

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.   And among those diseases could be measles and COVID-19.

Antivaxxers are sometimes violent, often abusive, and always wrong.

 Annenberg Public Policy Center:

The number of measles cases in the United States is at the highest level in decades, attributed to a decrease in vaccination against measles. And while U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told American parents on Aug. 2 that they should get their children vaccinated against measles, the public remains evenly divided on whether or not he recommends the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine.

According to the latest nationally representative survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, conducted Aug. 4-17, 2026, among more than 1,900 U.S. adults, the proportion of adults who say Kennedy recommends that children be vaccinated against measles is just under a third, at 31%. While this represents a significant increase since August 2025, when 23% of Americans thought he recommended measles vaccination for children, most people either still think that Kennedy does not recommend the vaccine (29%) or are unsure whether or not he recommends it (40%). The public is evenly divided between those who think Kennedy does (31%) or does not (29%) recommend the vaccine.

A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy has as HHS secretary made misleading and unsupported claims about the MMR vaccine, the measles, and vaccination in general, according to FactCheck.org, a project of APPC. He also has downplayed the risks of measles and the 2025 measles outbreak in Texas.

“As measles cases rise and the U.S. is poised to lose its measles elimination status, this country is paying the price for skepticism about vaccination against measles that RFK Jr. played a central role in promoting,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, APPC’s director emerita. “His ability to address the current U.S. measles outbreaks is hampered by the fact that most adults are either unsure about his stand on childhood vaccination against measles or believe that he does not recommend it.”

...

A majority (68%) of respondents say that it is false to state that “vaccines given to children for diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella cause autism,” while 13% say that statement is true and 19% are not sure. These percentages are statistically unchanged since 2022. In June of 2021, however, significantly more (74%) thought it was false to claim there is a link between vaccines and autism.

Just over half (52%) think that children who are fully vaccinated are “about as likely” to show signs of autism as children who are not fully vaccinated, while 9% think fully vaccinated children are “more likely,” 12% believe they are “less likely,” and 28% are not sure of the likelihood. Those saying fully vaccinated children are “more likely” to show signs of autism has decreased from 12% in February 2026.

“This small decrease in endorsing a link between vaccination and autism is good news in our survey data,” says Ken Winneg, APPC’s managing director of survey research. “However, when looking at the same people over time, there is no relationship between accurate change in knowledge of RFK Jr.’s recommendations and decreases in endorsing this misbelief.”

Measles 10/2/26

 In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio. A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.  Last year, he lied about it under oath.

Since  Trump took office in 2025, the U.S. has recorded more confirmed measles cases than in the previous 20 years combined. 

From CDC:

As of October 1, 2026, 3,887 confirmed* measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026. Among these, 3,869 measles cases were reported by 47 jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. A total of 18 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the United States.

There have been 42 new outbreaks** reported in 2026, and 95% of confirmed cases (3,700 of 3,887) are outbreak-associated (2,316 from outbreaks starting in 2026 and 1,384 from outbreaks that started in 2025).

For the full year of 2025, a total of 2,289 confirmed* measles cases were reported in the United States.

Medicaid Cuts, 2026

The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance and Medicaid services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) are particularly important. 

ANCOR, 2026 The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis

 Now, in the wake of H.R. 1 and in anticipation of budget shortfalls to come, some states are already adopting or considering cuts to their Medicaid-funded community-based I/DD services programs. Prominent examples include:

• Connecticut, which is planning cuts to a program that helps people with disabilities remain in their homes known as the Community First Choice Program.
• Colorado, which reversed planned rate increases for Medicaid providers and announced potential caps on Medicaid programs that help people with disabilities engage in activities such as cleaning, cooking, and community-based outings.
• Idaho, which cut $22 million in funding for its Medicaid home- and community-based services program.
• California, which is planning to eliminate its Backup Provider System, a program that pays for temporary backup care for people with disabilities when their primary provider is not available.

These existing and looming threats are creating uncertainty for providers as they look ahead to the next few years. In our survey, we found that 56% of respondents decided not to expand services at the present time because of the threat of state-initiated payment reductions or service cuts in response to H.R. 1. It is also worth noting that H.R. 1 established the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, as well as a new eligibility pathway for individuals to receive home- and community-based services. However, none of this new spending can benefit people with I/DD if providers lack the DSPs needed to render these services due to the law’s other provisions slashing federal Medicaid spending. 

Lawmakers Seek to Affirm Olmstead

 In The Politics of Autism, I discuss court cases involving the civil rights of people with autism and other disabilities. 

Trump does not care.  He despises people with disabilities.  His head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division is a political hack who uses the r-word as a slur.

In August, the Department of Justice quietly released a memo pertaining to the landmark 1999 disability civil rights case Olmstead v. L.C.  That precedent, the memo claimed without evidence, increases homelessness.

From the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund:

This week, a bipartisan House resolution was introduced in Congress affirming the right of disabled people to live in their homes and communities, not segregated in institutions. The Defend Community Integration Coalition (DCIC) applauds this introduction.

We thank Bipartisan Disability Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Debbie Dingell (D) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R) for leading and introducing H. Res. 1586, which affirms that the Olmstead decision reflects Congress’s intent that people with disabilities should live and receive services in their communities. The resolution is also cosponsored by Representatives Kean (R), Lawler (R), Wilson (R), Scanlon (D), and Simon (D), showing strong bipartisan support for community integration, and reflecting its bipartisan history.

More than 27 years ago, the Supreme Court held in Olmstead v. Lois Curtis that the unjustified isolation of people with disabilities is discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. That ruling did not come out of nowhere.Res. 1586 lays out the record: in 1977 and 1978, federal regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provided that services for people with disabilities must be delivered in the most integrated setting appropriate. Congress ratified those rules when it amended Section 504 in 1978. In 1990, it wrote into the ADA a finding that isolation and segregation are a serious and pervasive form of discrimination and incorporated Section 504’s integration regulations into the ADA’s public services title. The Supreme Court affirmed in the Olmstead decision that unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities is a form of disability discrimination. The integration mandate is the law as written and enacted by Congress. It is a civil right that has been reaffirmed by courts for decades.

That clarity matters right now. The integration mandate is facing new and unprecedented attacks, so this affirmation of Congress’s directives could not be more timely. Disabled people belong in our communities. This resolution sends a clear message from both sides of the aisle that Congress meant what it said, and we urge every member to cosponsor it.

We urge every House member to cosponsor H. Res. 1586, and we call on the Senate to introduce a similar bipartisan resolution as soon as possible. We also call on federal and state leaders to back the Congressional commitment with increased investment in home and community-based services and the direct care workforce that makes community living possible. Let’s defend community integration today.

Learn more about the Olmstead decision
Learn more about the Defend Community Integration Coalition

Video description: Jessica Podesva and Steve Lieberman speak into a microphone with the U.S. Capitol dome in the background. Thumbnail: Visit ncil.org/community. Defend Community Integration Coalition Logo features logos of: National Council on Independent Living; American Association of People with Disabilities; Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Caring Across Generations; National Disability Rights Network; United Spinal Association; Access Living; National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities; Center for Public Representation; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

• Ask your legislators to cosponsor the resolution
• Read the resolution
• Watch a short video about the resolution

Gutting CDC

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

He has now hijacked the CDC website -- and the CDC itself.

Apoorva Mandavilli at NYT:

For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was the undisputed global leader in public health. Its scientists helped train health officials worldwide. In the United States, it was the primary source of guidance for prevention and treatment of diseases, including diabetes, H.I.V. and the seasonal flu.

But after a year and a half in the cross hairs of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s drive to remake public health policy, the agency is a skeleton of the powerhouse it was.

The Trump administration’s widespread layoffs in early 2025 cut 18 percent of the C.D.C.’s staff. But new personnel data, compiled by a group of former federal scientists and reported here for the first time, indicate that the agency’s staff has dwindled far more, as large numbers of employees retired or resigned. As of May 2026, the C.D.C. had 30 percent fewer employees than it did before the layoffs, the data show.

Interviews with more than 30 current and former employees reveal the agency is now tightly controlled by Mr. Kennedy and his associates, and its scientists are finding it increasingly difficult to do their jobs effectively. (Some of them spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a fear of retaliation from the administration.)

...

“It’s a zombified C.D.C. where you have all the bits and pieces — like the body’s there, the substance is there, but it’s not acting like how an agency like that should act,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who led the respiratory disease center before he resigned in August 2025.

...

Even some areas central to the Trump administration’s priorities have been gutted. Despite Mr. Kennedy’s focus on chronic diseases and autism, the C.D.C. centers that aim to prevent chronic diseases and birth defects are at half their previous size, according to the new data, compiled by the Public Data Observatory from the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the employee union.

...

In past administrations, just two or three political appointees had purview over the C.D.C. Now, there are nearly 20 political appointees from H.H.S. who communicate with C.D.C. staff members, sometimes directing them to spend time and funding on dubious theories outside the agency’s scope, according to several officials.

Last year, an H.H.S. official directed the C.D.C. to award a no-bid contract — a rarity for the agency — to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to explore whether immunizing pregnant women would lead to autism in their children, a theory that Mr. Kennedy has espoused but that has been debunked by numerous studies. To pay for the research, the C.D.C. took $362,000 from a program that provides free vaccines to about half of American children.

In an email viewed by The New York Times, Stuart Burns, a political appointee, asked C.D.C. employees to pull together details of every measles case since 2010, including patients’ underlying medical conditions with diagnostic codes; that information is not collected routinely, they told him. Mr. Kennedy has falsely argued that measles only causes death in children who are already ill with other conditions.

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