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.
Who can forget when Kennedy, along with Trump, promoted the falsehood that Tylenol usage during pregnancy can cause autism? That lie, which has been repudiated by a vast body of research, spread rapidly to the point that about one-third of Americans believe it possible that Tylenol causes autism, according to one survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. There is no doubt in my mind that this had to do with Kennedy and Trump.
None of Kennedy’s inquiries into autism are good-faith in reality. Not once has Kennedy asked me or any other autistic person for input on autism policy. Inviting us to have a voice at the table is not difficult. Plenty of autistic Americans are eager to share their views on how to make public policy more neurodiversity-affirming.
Kennedy’s false characterization of autism as a “disease” or an “injury” caused by vaccines hurts public perception of autistic people. Since Kennedy is the nation’s top health official, it is inevitable that many people will take his statements seriously and spread them to others.
The autistic community has made tremendous progress in the last decade, but so much progress has unfortunately been reversed thanks to people like Kennedy. I just hope we can make up our progress as quickly as Kennedy is reversing it.
David Rivera is president and founder of Mentoring Autistic Minds.
