I Guess I’m A National Tragedy: An Autistic Person Responds to RFK’s Comments About ASD
Article By: Tariana Trosin / Art By: Adriel Malaca
On April 18th of 2025, I meandered through the local mall scene in search of some new clothes and some deals that would appease my frugal-minded tendencies. While I waited in line to check out, I received a notification on my phone, expecting another random Instagram post that my friends typically sent me. To my surprise, it turned out to be a YouTube video of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s comments on children diagnosed with autism. I apprehensively clicked the video.
“Autism destroys families”, professed Secretary Robert F. Kennedy in a press conference.
That sentence hit me with a thousand knives. Autism destroys families. Those are the words of the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Think about that. He rambled on about how autistic people's contributions to society are nonexistent because of their inability to pay taxes or hold down a job. Expanding on this notion, he emphasizes that folks on the spectrum aren’t and will never be capable of using the bathroom without needed assistance, or are even capable of feeling romantic affection and intimacy. I laughed at that, and then that laughter turned melancholic. I was baffled that a member of the United States government, who is held to higher standards and moral obligations, perpetuated harmful stereotypes about my community–my community. My mouth dropped open in astonishment.
Secretary Kennedy’s claim for why autism diagnoses are an uprising “epidemic” is deeply flawed, and adds that autism is “a preventable disease” that is a product of only environmental toxins. Neurologists acknowledge that autism is partially a result of the environment, but also affirm that autism is predominantly due to genetics–a neurological fact he rejected. Also, it is notable to point out that because of more intensive research in autism spectrum diagnostics and better resources for diagnoses in the process, there will be more diagnosed children with autism, not because it's a disease. Autism is not a disease, but rather a neurological discrepancy.
While Secretary Kennedy’s most recent comments have attributed autism to environmental toxins, this isn't his first time promoting false information. Prior to this press conference, Kennedy was one of the most infamous anti-vaccination advocates in the country, justifying that vaccines are the primary cause of autism in children. He blamed this “tragedy” primarily on vaccines in the past, a conspiracy theory that has been prolonged since the 2000s and has endured ever since. This conspiracy theory was developed in the late 1990s, claiming that vaccines– specifically MMR vaccines–are the cause of autism in children. The conspiracy gained momentum because of the rise of social media in the 2000s, and it only allowed it to thrive. Now that Kennedy has taken on his post as secretary, he has parroted this ideology and has used his position to express his political stance, especially regarding anti-vaccination rhetoric in both public and online forums. This spread of misinformation is fraudulent and incorrect according to empirical evidence and numerous medical studies over the last two decades, all concluding that vaccines are in no shape or form linked to autism diagnoses. A plethora of prominent scholarly sources have debunked the conspiracy theory, including the World Health Organization, the National Institute of Mental Health, and more. What is more confounding is as of recently, RFK's set his target on ascertaining the cause of autism, which is a feasible goal, but the controversial component of this is that he employed David Geier, a vaccine critic. His notoriety in the medical world is infamous in that he and his father conducted a study that concluded that vaccines are the definite cause of autism. His clinical studies raised red flags within the scientific community, condemning the ethics and validity of his research.
Vaccines don't “give” a person autism. I can’t believe I have to say that. What has this country come to?
Secretary Kennedy’s overall message: autism hinders mainstream America from national progression. The way he says it, as if autism is the equivalent of a birth defect–a birth defect–is especially disturbing to me. I am flabbergasted that a United States government worker labeled autistic folk as being an incapacitated, worthless drudge on society. We make up the fabric of our national character, and yes, we contribute heavily from both physical and intellectual standpoints. Are we not the mathematicians, the athletes, the artists, the scholars of this country? We perform and pursue our passions at the highest caliber, and to say that autistic people are a hindrance to this country is asinine to my sensibilities. Secretary Kennedy briefly mentioned that autistic folk will “never play sports”, and my rebuttal to that is an Olympic gold medalist named Michael Brannigan, an example that disproves the stereotype. Michael Brannigan, an American paralympian on the autism spectrum, competed in Paris in the 2024 Olympics and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and has earned both gold and bronze medals thus far in his athletic career. In 2016, he ran his way to victory in the 1500m dash in 3:51:73. Brannigan's achievements clearly contradict the stereotype that autistic people are incapable of athletic success. Autism is not a disease, and to discuss it in the context of an epidemic that needs to be rectified is perplexing and appalling. The spectrum is complex and multifaceted, meaning that it is a constellation of people, and factors vary from person to person. Regardless of that, it is inexcusable to claim that disabilities are an obstruction to our country moving forward. I am frustrated. I am tired.
I walked out of that store, sarcastically thinking to myself: I guess I am a national tragedy. Ambivalently, walking out of that shop knowing that you are perceived as a lost cause was defeating. The comments are atrocious, but the ignorance those comments are fueled by is revolting. Between these statements and the overall agenda of the Trump administration, I can’t even begin to fathom what is next for our country, but I will be damned if I am told that my disability is counterproductive to our nation's development and inferior to that of a neurotypical person. My capacities–or anyone on the spectrum–are just as valid as anyone else’s. This instance is a stark reminder that, as a nation, we have not reached the standard of intelligence and benevolence that we aim for, and are rather on the trajectory of ignorance and intolerance; it is thoroughly dismaying. Overall, it’s imperative to be informative and to think critically about medically approved research, rather than deriving information from political analysis or an ideology that could potentially dehumanize marginalized groups.
So, the next time I use the restroom–unassisted–, it will feel like a small, yet defiant, victory.
Sources:
National Institute of Mental Health. Autism Risk Unrelated to Total Vaccine Exposure in Early Childhood. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 29 Mar. 2013, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-updates/2013/autism-risk-unrelated-to-total-vaccine-exposure-in-early-childhood.
Taylor, Luke E., et al. “Vaccines Are Not Associated with Autism: An Evidence-Based Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cohort Studies.” Vaccine, vol. 32, no. 29, 2014, pp. 3623–3629. National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5377970/.
International Paralympic Committee. Michael Brannigan – Athletics. Paralympic.org, https://www.paralympic.org/michael-brannigan.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Autism Destroys Families: RFK Jr. on Autism Epidemic.” YouTube, uploaded by The Rubin Report, 5 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-N9li4LdmY.
Warren, William, et al. "Total Vaccine Exposure in Early Childhood and Autism Risk." Frontiers in Pediatrics, vol. 5, 2017, article 229. PubMed Central,https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5377970/.
nytopinion. “Vaccines don’t cause autism, but an @nytopinion visual analysis shows how a father-son duo manipulated data to say the shots can …” Instagram, [Date unknown], https://www.instagram.com/p/DNqtzj_y3E7/
