RFK Jr. Is Missing 1 Major Point In The CDC's New Autism Report — And Experts Agree
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that autism rates have increased among children in the United States.
In a new report that looked at data from 2022, the CDC found that 1 in 31 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism by the time they turn 8 years old. That number was 1 in 54 in 2016.
Autism is a hot-button topic within the current Trump administration — Donald Trump shared misinformation about a 'connection' between vaccines and autism (a link that has been disproven over and over), and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to find the 'cause' of autism by September via a controversial federal study. He referred to autism as an 'epidemic,' which has drawn major criticism from the autism community and experts alike.
As much as the current administration would like folks to believe there is something larger at play, the rise in autism diagnoses is because of better screening and earlier detection, according to the CDC report — and experts who talked to HuffPost agree.
If you think about testing for anything, whether it's autism or the flu, you're naturally going to have more cases if you're testing more and fewer cases if you aren't testing, said Elisabeth Marnik, a scientist and science communicator based in Maine.
'So if you're not looking for something, either because you don't want to look for it, or because you don't have the tools to look for it, then you're not going to find it. But once you have the resources and the tools, then you're going to start identifying cases, because you now are equipped with that information,' said Marnik.
'Increased screening, public awareness of autism from public service announcements and other media reports, social media posts about autism, etc. are likely contributing to higher rates,' added Dr. Rebecca Landa, the founder and director of the Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
The definition for what it means to be on the autism spectrum has also been widened, Marnik said.
Between increased screenings, more public awareness and a larger definition of what autism is, it makes sense that diagnoses have gone up. But HHS issued a press release about the CDC's findings and went against this.
In the press release, HHS stated 'the increase in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence cannot be solely attributed to the expansion of diagnoses to include higher functioning children.'
And, at a press conference, Kennedy pointed to 'environmental factors' as the reason behind the rise in autism cases and dismissed genetics as a factor. He also said the cause of the rise in autism will be determined by the federal study in September.
'I think the problem, though, with RFK's statement is that he seems very much set on blaming very specific things that we have a lot of data to show is not true,' said Marnik. 'For example, vaccination. We have tons and tons of data that shows that vaccines are not associated with autism.'
'I have been in this field quite some time. I had hoped that we put this to rest over 20 years ago ... the government many years ago now did a great job of acknowledging families' concerns about vaccines [and] funded some very tight studies and showed that there was not a link,' said Dr. Cindy Johnson, the director of the Center for Autism at the Cleveland Clinic.
Better surveillance and early identification are what is behind the rise, stressed Johnson. More, Kennedy's comments put the blame on parents, as if they can control whether or not their child has autism.
'In the '50s, we were blaming moms for being a 'refrigerator mom,' blaming moms for a child [having] an autism,' said Johnson. 'Now, parents feel guilty when they give their child a vaccine that could likely save their child's life, and I shudder at the thought of families not getting a vaccine ... and their child becoming very ill of things that we thought were way back way in the history.'
To stress even more that autism isn't in someone's control, research shows that genetics also play a role in the development of autism.
'I would like to encourage parents to stay current on their developmental screeners and autism-specific screeners at the time points recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics,' said Landa.
'If they have a child with autism, it is particularly important for the younger siblings to be screened for autism at 18 and 24 months, and even later, at age 36 months. One in five younger siblings of autistic children also receive an autism diagnosis; another 30% of younger siblings of autistic children will have language and/or social delays,' Landa noted.
For new parents and soon-to-be parents who are concerned about this increase in autism diagnoses, experts have some advice.
'Young families now see this increase, but it should not bring them more concern, but rather we're better at earlier identification, which I see as hope in the earlier we can identify, the earlier we can address the concerns ... that are consistent with autism,' said Johnson.
Diagnosis is better than being 'missed and misunderstood' as Johnson calls it. Meaning, it's better for a child to have an autism diagnosis, which can help them get the care they need, than to have a child who is unsupported and left to their own devices.
Marnik noted that parents shouldn't listen to Kennedy's opinion regarding what an autism diagnosis means for their life.
'If this is something that is concerning to a parent, then I think they really need to potentially hear from those with autism themselves about how their life is valuable and all of those things,' said Marnik, 'but also, I think it's important to realize that this there are options for early intervention, and it's not a death sentence.'
In the press conference, Kennedy also said that autistic people 'will never pay taxes' or 'hold a job' or 'write a poem,' among other things, which experts deeply disagree with.
'Does he know that it's a spectrum, and you cannot make any global statement like that?' said Johnson. 'That is another myth that I had hoped had gone away, is that we characterize individuals with autism by their deficit. And certainly the diagnosis, there are deficits in certain areas, but many of these people have tremendous strength.'
There's a full autism spectrum, so 'making any global, broad comments is just not accurate,' Johnson added.
RFK Jr. Says We'll Soon Know What's Fueling The Autism Epidemic. His Prediction Is Wild.
The 9 Biggest Signs Of Autism In Adulthood
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On Thursday, I caught Cassidy as he hurried out of a congressional hearing room. He was still reviewing the appointees, he told me and several other reporters who gathered around him. When I chased after him down the hallway to ask more questions, he told me, 'I'll be putting out statements, and I'll let those statements stand for themselves.' A member of his staff dismissed me with a curt 'Thank you, sir.' Cassidy's staff has declined repeated requests for an interview with the senator since the confirmation vote in January. With the exception of Mitch McConnell, every GOP senator voted to confirm Kennedy. They all have to own the health secretary's actions. But Cassidy seemed to be the Republican most concerned about Kennedy's nomination, and there was a good reason to think that the doctor would vote his conscience. In 2021, Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump on an impeachment charge after the insurrection at the Capitol. But this time, the senator—who is up for reelection next year, facing a more MAGA-friendly challenger—ultimately fell in line. Cassidy tried to have it both ways: elevating Kennedy to his job while also vowing to constrain him. In casting his confirmation vote, Cassidy implied that the two would be in close communication, and that Kennedy had asked for his input on hiring decisions. The two reportedly had breakfast in March to discuss the health secretary's plan to dramatically reshape the department. 'Senator Cassidy speaks regularly with secretary Kennedy and believes those conversations are much more productive when they're held in private, not through press headlines,' a spokesperson for Cassidy wrote in an email. (A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) At times, it has appeared as though Cassidy's approach has had some effect on the health secretary. Amid the measles outbreak in Texas earlier this year, Kennedy baselessly questioned the safety of the MMR vaccine. In April, after two unvaccinated children died, Cassidy posted on X: 'Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles. Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.' Cassidy didn't call out Kennedy by name, but the health secretary appeared to get the message. Later that day, Kennedy posted that the measles vaccine was the most effective way to stave off illness. ('Completely agree,' Cassidy responded.) All things considered, that's a small victory. Despite Kennedy's claims that he is not an anti-vaxxer, he has enacted a plainly anti-vaccine agenda. Since being confirmed, he has pushed out the FDA's top vaccine regulator, hired a fellow vaccine skeptic to investigate the purported link between autism and shots, and questioned the safety of childhood vaccinations currently recommended by the CDC. As my colleague Katherine J. Wu wrote this week, 'Whether he will admit to it or not, he is serving the most core goal of the anti-vaccine movement—eroding access to, and trust in, immunization.' The reality is that back channels can be only so effective. Cassidy's main power is to call Kennedy before the Senate health committee, which he chairs, and demand an explanation for Kennedy's new appointees to the CDC's vaccine-advisory committee. Cassidy might very well do that. In February, he said that Kennedy would 'come before the committee on a quarterly basis, if requested.' Kennedy did appear before Cassidy's committee last month to answer questions about his efforts to institute mass layoffs at his agency. Some Republicans (and many Democrats) pressed the secretary on those efforts, while others praised them. Cassidy, for his part, expressed concerns about Kennedy's indiscriminate cutting of research programs, but still, he was largely deferential. 'I agree with Secretary Kennedy that HHS needs reform,' Cassidy said. Even if he had disagreed, an angry exchange between a health secretary and a Senate committee doesn't guarantee any policy changes. Lawmakers may try to act like government bureaucrats report to them, but they have limited power once a nominee is already in their job. Technically, lawmakers can impeach Cabinet members, but in American history, a sitting Cabinet member has never been impeached and subsequently removed from office. The long and arduous confirmation process is supposed to be the bulwark against potentially dangerous nominees being put in positions of power. Cassidy and most of his Republican colleagues have already decided not to stop Kennedy from overseeing the largest department in the federal government by budget. Now Kennedy is free to do whatever he wants—senators be damned.
