Harmful Rhetoric around Autism Isn’t the Cure

May 17, 2002, a first born son was brought into the world. As he grew, he was curious. But he was nonverbal. At three-years-old he had his first doctor’s appointment, and by age five he was diagnosed with autism. 

We connected using Pillow Pets as kids. My brother didn’t know how to communicate with me, and yet we found a way. Spark — the magical pillow-shaped unicorn — was the center of most conversations. She had a whole personality, backstory and voice. It allowed both of us to understand one another and connect as siblings. 

President Donald Trump announced Sept. 22 he had found, without scientific backing, a link between autism and Tylenol taken during pregnancy. This is part of Trump’s and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s planned actions to tackle the “autism epidemic.“

My brother doesn’t suffer from a disease. A disease is an abnormal or unhealthy condition which can interfere with the normal functioning of the body’s structure or systems. 

Autism describes his brain as different, not sick. He doesn’t need to be cured. Autism can be a broad range of conditions ranging from challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors as well as speech and nonverbal communication, according to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

This disorder needs unbiased and empathetic recognition along with social support backed up with facts, not pernicious rhetoric causing pain and social othering. 

Autism isn’t a “disease” as Trump puts it —it’s a neurodevelopmental variation in genetics, similar to eye or hair color.

Kennedy and Trump use mindless language when talking about autism. Kennedy said vaccines are also a cause of autism and has referred to a rise in autism diagnoses as a “holocaust.” 

This is the leader and decision-maker of the National Department of Health. This same man said “autism destroys families.” It hurts to hear that as a sister of someone with autism because genetic makeup doesn’t determine the strength of one family, the love and care we feel for one another does. 

Kennedy is moving backwards and advocating for a decrease in disability aid. 

My family means everything to me. My brother is central to my life — regardless of his diagnosis. There is nothing about his humanity and his mind which needs changing. Autism doesn’t destroy families — ignorance about the disorder does. 

There is patronization which comes with ignorance around autism. This can have an affect on people’s well-being and lead to further stigmatizing of people with autism. Feeling stigmatized can also lead people with autism to attempt to hide their behaviors in an attempt to fit in.  

My brother found belonging in the University of Minnesota sports community. He struggled with fitting in and acceptance until he found his love for college sports and felt invited by the broader Gopher community.

We had ups and downs, as all siblings do, but when I got to see my brother move out of the house and live independently with his own job, I could not have been prouder. He works as a Product and Services assistant at a hospital in Minnesota while also living in the heart of the city.  He had the support and tools available to be able to grow into his life. 

When dangerous misinformation is being spread by the Secretary of Health and President of the United States, people will believe it. They will believe the fallacies being spread are true, which could lead to harmful stereotyping, underrepresentation and discrimination enacted against people with autism.

Both Trump and Kennedy cite the rising autism diagnoses as a scare tactic — but the rise in cases is because the definition of autism has developed greatly over the past 20 years, not because it’s an epidemic. Because of cultural awareness and developing research requiring a broadening in the multiple standards which define autism — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders is the newest way doctors classified autism and it’s now five separate diagnoses under the umbrella of autism — the the diagnostic rates have subsequently increased.

The pseudoscientific evidence presented by Trump and Kennedy feeds their narrative surrounding people with autism’s lives. Portraying people with autism as needing to be fixed or cured allows these men to further their political agenda. 

The unsupported linking between the disorder and consumption of Tylenol may endanger infants and expecting mothers going forward. Due to the lack of acetaminophen, pregnant women may not treat fevers as directed and risk further illness.

My brother has received numerous resources which make his life easier. Those resources are threatened by Kennedy’s flippant attitude. Both Kennedy and Trump have made it clear they desire to reduce disability rights and services. 

If funding is cut to disability services, people with autism could be disproportionately affected due to the amount of grants and funding they receive from the government. 

The number of people with autism using Medicaid is growing. Only 1% of people with autism who need employment services actually get them. Cuts in Medicaid also affect people with autism, since it helps pay for Home and Community Based Services used to allow people with autism to live in communities. 

This is bigger than just autism — this affects the whole American disabled community.

People with autism aren’t diseased. They are American citizens who need their own resources, space and accommodation — and they are left to try and get those things from a system built without them in mind. No human is less deserving of understanding than anyone else based on their genetic makeup. 

Autism is not an epidemic. No person with autism needs to be saved from their own mind. They need understanding — and to be afforded the space in our nation to do so.