Robert Kennedy Jr claimed autism ‘destroys’ lives; autistic people disagree

WASHINGTON - Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s remarks this week that autism “destroys” children have prompted outrage among many autistic people, who said they had done things Mr Kennedy claimed were impossible, like hold a job, write a poem, play baseball and go on dates.

They added that the lives of people who did need help performing daily activities were still worthy of respect.

“Autism doesn’t destroy families. It’s the ableism that does,” said Ms Tyla Grant, who was diagnosed with autism at 17. She called Mr Kennedy’s comments “fearmongering” and said his “rhetoric flattens our existence into this outdated stereotype”.

Many parents of autistic children said they feared Mr Kennedy’s remarks would set back efforts to destigmatise autism and connect families with support services.

“How will our children survive if they are considered a tragedy?” said Ms Kim Cristo, whose 17-year-old daughter is “essentially non-verbal” but has a fulfilling social life, loves music and does yoga and karate.

“How can we make their lives meaningful if they are being dismissed as lost causes?”

Mr Kennedy, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), made his remarks at a news conference on April 16 discussing new data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that showed autism diagnoses among children in the US have continued to rise.

Although the increase is thought to be driven largely by broadened criteria and increased awareness, Mr Kennedy falsely declared that autism was preventable and called the situation an epidemic.

“These are kids who will never pay taxes,” he said, adding: “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”

Ms Grant, 27, said that Mr Kennedy’s remarks “just bring to light what we all know: that we live in a world that still struggles to treat autistic people with basic decency – especially when we need support”.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes difficulties with social interaction and communication. Because it encompasses a broad array of traits that can vary in how much they affect a person’s life, it is often described as occurring on a spectrum.

Some autistic people need extensive support in everyday life. Many others live independently, with demanding jobs and active social lives. And many fall in between, having trouble navigating some tasks and interactions but managing well with accommodations.

Mr Geoff Saavedra, 50, said he had benefited from having a mother who helped him find coping mechanisms to manage what he described as “violent meltdowns”, rather than treating him as a problem, as Mr Kennedy’s comments implied he was.

“When I was a teenager, my mother tried to find ways to help me so I would not hurt anyone,” he said. “I learnt to feel the meltdown coming on, and then I would go into our backyard and chop wood.”

In a statement, an HHS spokesperson said that Mr Kennedy’s statements were not intended to stigmatise autistic children or their families, but rather to emphasise the need for more research into “environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses”.

Mr Kennedy, who has long pushed an unfounded link between autism and vaccines, said he would investigate the causes of autism and provide “some of the answers” by September.

“Secretary Kennedy remains committed to working towards a society where people with autism have access to meaningful opportunities, appropriate supports and the full respect and recognition they deserve,” the statement said.

Ms Kara, an autistic woman who asked to be identified only by her first name because she feared harassment from co-workers who do not know about her diagnosis, couldn’t speak in public until high school.

As a child, she hid in boxes or behind furniture, and drank from a bottle until age seven as she did not have sufficient motor skills to use cups. But over time, she has learnt to cope. She follows strict routines and, with therapy, is able to work at a school. Phone calls are difficult, but she communicates by e-mail.

“The child version of me who could not speak deserves a happy life just as much as anyone,” she said. She added that as a child, she was keenly aware of comments like Mr Kennedy’s, even though she could not verbalise a response. “‘Non-speaking’ does not mean ‘non-listening’,” she said. “I was aware of the terrible things people were saying about me, when they discussed me like I wasn’t even there.”

Not all parents of autistic children were outraged by the comments. Ms Jackie Ceonzo, whose son is non-verbal and has seizures, said she was glad that Mr Kennedy was talking about the challenges people with higher support needs and their families faced.

“We are in a crisis with an ageing population of parents caring for an ageing group of kids who will require lifelong care,” she said.

But several autistic adults with high support needs said that they were as upset by Mr Kennedy’s remarks as anyone – and that, as children, they had been deeply hurt by their parents’ sense of them as a burden.

Ms Maria Davis-Pierre, a therapist in West Palm Beach, Florida, who counsels black families of children with autism, said she feared that the remarks would prevent some of those families from seeking diagnoses for their children.

Continuing a trend first seen in 2020, the new CDC data found higher rates of autism among black, Hispanic and Asian American children than among white children, as clinicians, teachers and parents increasingly spot early signs in communities that were previously overlooked.

“When somebody is telling you that your child is never going to contribute and will destroy your family, that continues to harm our community,” said Ms Davis-Pierre, who has two autistic children and was herself diagnosed with autism at age 37.

“Which means they’re not going to get supports and services they need. In the black community, autism is then seen as a behavioural issue that feeds the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Ms Marianne Eloise, 32, was stunned by Mr Kennedy’s remarks, especially his comment that autistic people would never write a poem. Ms Eloise, who is autistic, is herself a published poet.

“I would love to read RFK’s poetry, if he could share it,” she said. “I’m not familiar with his work.” NYTIMES