RFK Jr. exaggerates share of autistic population with severe limitations

By Louis Jacobson PolitiFact KFF Vitality News Vitality and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr attracted notice and in a few quarters outrage for remarks about autism a topic he s clashed with scientists about for years Kennedy held an April press conference pegged to a new Centers for Malady Control and Prevention assessment that detected the prevalence of autism rising to in among -year-olds the latest in a series of increases in contemporary decades Kennedy commented autism destroys families and is an individual tragedy as well Kennedy reported multiple autistic children were fully functional and had regressed into autism when they were years old And these are kids who will never pay taxes they ll never hold a job they ll never play baseball they ll never write a poem they ll never go out on a date Plenty of of them will never use a toilet unassisted He also explained Most of cases now are severe Twenty-five percent of the kids who are diagnosed with autism are nonverbal non-toilet-trained and have other stereotypical features Therapeutic experts along with people on the autism spectrum recounted PolitiFact that Kennedy s portrayal was skewed A investigation written by CDC bureaucrats and university researchers ascertained that one-quarter of people on the autism spectrum have severe limitations But this is on the high end of studies and a multitude of people in that one-quarter of the autism population do not have the limitations Kennedy mentioned The vast majority of people on the spectrum do not have those severe challenges I wish he would spend certain time with parents of other autistic children and well-regarded scientists who have studied this condition for decades commented David Mandell a University of Pennsylvania psychiatry professor and director of the Penn Center for Mental Medical He has a fixed myopic view The Department of Wellness and Human Services did not provide records on what share of people with autism diagnoses are unable to do the things Kennedy described Secretary Kennedy remains committed to working toward a society where people with autism have access to meaningful opportunities appropriate supports and the full respect and recognition they deserve department press secretary Vianca N Rodriguez Feliciano reported PolitiFact His statements emphasized the need for increased research into environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses not to stigmatize individuals with autism or their families The Washington Post communicated that an HHS spokesperson declared Kennedy was referring to those that are severely affected by this chronic condition and that this was in no way a general characterization We took a closer look at the available content and research What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder At root autism is a difference in how your child s brain works that shapes how they interact with the world around them according to the Cleveland Clinic People with autism diagnoses the clinic says may excel more in certain areas and need more endorsement in other areas compared to their neurotypical peers Over the years autism s definition and determination has changed In the s and s it is very likely that a multitude of people with profound autism were misdiagnosed with mental retardation a term in use at the time or schizophrenia while other autistic people likely got no finding at all reported John J Pitney Jr a Claremont McKenna College politics professor author of the book The Politics of Autism Navigating the Contested Spectrum and a father of an autistic son who s about to graduate from college In more fresh decades the diagnostic criteria for autism have broadened producing a spectrum ranging from severe impacts to more modest ones In contemporary times s definition encompasses individuals with milder clues stronger language skills and higher IQs reported Christopher Banks president and CEO of the Autism Society of America How Common are the More Limiting Forms of Autism Autism s expanded definition means a minority of people on the spectrum have the kinds of severe limitations Kennedy cited though it s hard to say how a great number of The highest total we determined comes from a federal overview written by CDC representatives and university researchers It identified that of -year-olds with autism had profound autism a newly framed and not universally accepted definition that included children who were nonverbal were minimally verbal or had an IQ below Average IQ is considered to Related Articles Martinelli s voluntarily recalls more than apple juice bottles due to prospective toxin contamination Mental soundness services lacking in immigration detention centers California review finds Blood pressure-lowering medication shows promise in new trial results How bugs and beet juice could play roles in the race to replace artificial dyes in food andMe bankruptcy bid deadline extended as DNA privacy woes linger People with profound autism will require lifetime round-the-clock care explained Judith Ursitti co-founder and president of the Profound Autism Alliance a nonprofit Ursitti explained her -year-old son is not headed towards employment or a career in poetry or baseball Acknowledging this fact is crucial as this population is often excluded from media portrayals and research Other estimates are lower A investigation published in by researchers at the University of Utah and Children s Hospital of Philadelphia looked at U S children with autism When parents were sought whether they would characterize their child s autism as severe reported yes Among this group of children with severe autism a minority were classified as having a severe intellectual disability Even among those with an intellectual disability there s huge variability Mandell disclosed People with Down syndrome have an intellectual disability but often are quite capable and can do all the things RFK points to The CDC published material in showing that of people with autism had an IQ in the average or higher range and another research has discovered that this figure could be as high as Zoe Gross the director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Structure reported limited available material suggests that Kennedy s characterization is exaggerated Gross who is on the spectrum herself disclosed a examination uncovered that of people on the spectrum who were studied were employed As for baseball the Special Olympics which was founded by Kennedy s family and includes competitors who are on the spectrum includes softball At least two people who played major league baseball Tarik El-Abour and Jim Eisenreich were populace about their autism diagnoses Gross mentioned there is no official figures on autistic poets but she was aware of the poet DJ Savarese a nonspeaking but highly literate advocate Gross was also unable to find input on dating but she declared she s married and she pointed to the Netflix reality show Love on the Spectrum which follows autistic people s dating lives It is now in its third season As for not using a toilet unassisted the scrutiny that analyzed U S children with autism and ascertained that were considered severe exposed that of those in the severe category had trouble bathing or dressing which if generalizable to the entire autistic population would be less than Another scrutiny detected urinary incontinence released by of the autistic people studied and fecal incontinence by Eric M Garcia who is on the spectrum and who has written the book We re Not Broken Changing the Autism Conversation was covering Kennedy s remarks as Washington bureau chief of The Independent Hearing his words felt so demoralizing Garcia reported PolitiFact A lot of people will respond by saying He didn t mean autistic people like you But that doesn t make it any better PolitiFact staff writer Madison Czopek contributed to this article KFF Medical News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC