RFK Jr. exaggerates share of autistic population with severe limitations

By Louis Jacobson PolitiFact KFF Medical News Soundness and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr attracted notice and in selected 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 summary that identified the prevalence of autism rising to in among -year-olds the latest in a series of increases in modern decades Kennedy mentioned autism destroys families and is an individual tragedy as well Kennedy disclosed a great number of 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 A multitude of of them will never use a toilet unassisted He also noted The majority 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 Health experts along with people on the autism spectrum communicated PolitiFact that Kennedy s portrayal was skewed A research written by CDC officers and university researchers located that one-quarter of people on the autism spectrum have severe limitations But this is on the high end of studies and various 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 particular time with parents of other autistic children and well-regarded scientists who have studied this condition for decades declared David Mandell a University of Pennsylvania psychiatry professor and director of the Penn Center for Mental Vitality He has a fixed myopic view The Department of Robustness and Human Services did not provide facts 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 released that an HHS spokesperson announced 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 evidence 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 patronage in other areas compared to their neurotypical peers Over the years autism s definition and finding has changed In the s and s it is very likely that numerous people with profound autism were misdiagnosed with mental retardation a term in use at the time or schizophrenia while other autistic people allegedly got no finding at all noted 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 latest decades the diagnostic criteria for autism have broadened producing a spectrum ranging from severe impacts to more modest ones Nowadays s definition encompasses individuals with milder clues stronger language skills and higher IQs declared 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 countless The highest total we uncovered comes from a federal record written by CDC agents and university researchers It unveiled 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 foreseen toxin contamination Mental wellbeing 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 declared her -year-old son is not headed towards employment or a career in poetry or baseball Acknowledging this fact is pivotal as this population is often excluded from media portrayals and research Other estimates are lower A evaluation 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 questioned whether they would characterize their child s autism as severe explained 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 content in showing that of people with autism had an IQ in the average or higher range and another survey has ascertained that this figure could be as high as Zoe Gross the director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Setup revealed limited available facts suggests that Kennedy s characterization is exaggerated Gross who is on the spectrum herself disclosed a scrutiny ascertained 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 inhabitants about their autism diagnoses Gross mentioned there is no official information on autistic poets but she was aware of the poet DJ Savarese a nonspeaking but highly literate advocate Gross was also unable to find content on dating but she commented 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 research that analyzed U S children with autism and determined that were considered severe detected 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 research ascertained urinary incontinence informed 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 advised 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 Strength News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC