Under President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the federal government is putting a lot of attention on autism. Scientists and doctors criticized Trump’s debunked statements about the causes of autism from a press conference he held earlier this week. Advocates of autistic people and their families are also raising concerns about the way the president talks about autism.

The Autism Society of Minnesota released a statement Wednesday calling this language dehumanizing and harmful.

The federal rhetoric comes as autism centers in Minnesota are under scrutiny for fraud. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged the owner of an autism treatment clinic with stealing $14 million from a state program that funds services for young people with autism spectrum disorder.

Joining MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about this is the Autism Society of Minnesota’s executive director Ellie Wilson and communications director Zephyr James, who was diagnosed with autism as an adult.