Many have criticized U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in recent weeks for making sweeping claims about the cause and prevalence of autism and the United States.

At a news conference last week, Kennedy called autism “an epidemic” due to rising diagnosis rates, attributing the rise to "an environmental exposure." He also called autism “a preventable disease," promising to launch studies to find out what "caused the autism epidemic" and "eliminate those exposures" by September.

While it's true that autism rates are on the rise, health experts say the increase is much more likely due to better screenings and higher diagnosis rates in recent years. The definition of autism has also broadened to include a variety of neurodivergent conditions, known as Autism Spectrum Disorders. 

“Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said. “More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this.”

Kennedy’s broad claims mirror a larger problem: There are persistent misconceptions about autism that affect autistic people and the way the world interacts with them. 

To discuss all of this, Autism Alliance of Michigan President and CEO Colleen Allen joined The Metro. She also founded the Henry Ford Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

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