Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to the airwaves Sunday to continue his attempt to get more attention focused on the factors that cause autism.
Kennedy appeared on a New York radio show to continue pushing for more scientific analysis on the cause of autism. Kennedy said, “This is an epidemic. It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people. Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity,” according to The Hill.
Kennedy is refusing to back down on his position that not enough is being done to get to the root cause of autism. He refutes a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that places a steady increase in reported cases to little more than better diagnosis and reporting.
On Wednesday, Kennedy said the U.S. is experiencing an "autism epidemic" that he claims cannot be explained by "better diagnostic criteria" or "genes."
Kennedy said it's clear to him that better screening simply cannot account for the numbers. “One of the things that I think we need to move away from today is this ideology that the autism prevalence increases, the relentless increases, are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition, or changing diagnostic criteria."
Kennedy posted this week that the number of children affected across America can’t be ignored. “Autism prevalence in the U.S. has increased from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31. We will find the root cause of this epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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