Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, recently announced that he’d be “revealing” the “cause of autism” this month. It’s true that rates of diagnosis have gone up over the past 20 years — from 1 in 150 kids to 1 in 31 — but autism advocates are worried that Kennedy’s mission will do more harm than good. 

In the past, RFK Jr. has spread disinformation about vaccines, including exhaustively disproven links to autism. (Seriously, we’re talking thousands of studies on millions of patients. Vaccines do not cause autism!) Now the Wall Street Journal has reported that his new theory is about the use of Tylenol in pregnancy. But just last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a huge study proving that Tylenol isn’t linked to autism or ADHD.

Most doctors believe that autism is caused by genetics, and kids with a sibling or parent who’s autistic are more likely to be diagnosed themselves. A study published in 2019 estimated the heritability of autism at about 80%, about the same as the heritability of height. So then… what’s causing the spike in autism? The answer is simple: we’re getting better at diagnosing it.

Doctors have especially made strides in diagnosing women and girls. Autistic girls often struggle more internally than externally and their response may look like shyness, which our society finds more acceptable in girls than in boys. Across all genders and ages, no two people with autism are exactly the same. If RFK Jr. actually talked to anyone with autism, he might realize that he’s pushing stereotypes and disinformation.

And on top of all that, RFK Jr. and Trump have actually cut more than 50 federal research projects on autism, firing scientists who have been working on this for years. If they really wanted to help people with autism, why would they cut that funding?

In this week’s episode of Okay, But Why, we’re exploring what we do and don’t know about autism, busting myths and disinformation, and hearing from actual autistic people in their own words.

For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

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