{"id":5345,"date":"2025-04-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=5345"},"modified":"2025-04-28T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T09:00:00","slug":"rfk-jr-exaggerates-share-of-autistic-population-with-severe-limitations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=5345","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. Exaggerates Share of Autistic Population With Severe Limitations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracted notice \u2014 and in some quarters, outrage \u2014 for remarks about autism, a topic he\u2019s\u00a0clashed\u00a0with scientists about<\/a> for years.<\/p>\n

Kennedy held an April 16\u00a0press conference<\/a>\u00a0pegged to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0that found the\u00a0prevalence\u00a0of autism<\/a> rising to 1 in 31 among 8-year-olds, the latest in a series of increases in recent decades.<\/p>\n

Kennedy said \u201cautism destroys families\u201d and is an \u201cindividual tragedy as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kennedy said many autistic children were \u201cfully functional\u201d and had \u201cregressed\u201d into autism \u201cwhen they were 2 years old. And these are kids who will never pay taxes, they\u2019ll never hold a job, they\u2019ll never play baseball, they\u2019ll never write a poem, they\u2019ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said: \u201cMost 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medical experts, along with people on the autism spectrum, told PolitiFact that Kennedy\u2019s portrayal was skewed. A 2023 study written by CDC officials and university researchers found that one-quarter of people on the autism spectrum have severe limitations. But this is on the high end of studies, and many people in that one-quarter of the autism population do not have the limitations Kennedy mentioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vast majority of people on the spectrum do not have those severe challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish he would spend some time with parents of other autistic children, and well-regarded scientists who have studied this condition for decades,\u201d said David Mandell, a University of Pennsylvania psychiatry professor and director of the Penn Center for Mental Health. \u201cHe has a fixed, myopic view.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Human Services did not provide data on what share of people with autism diagnoses are unable to do the things Kennedy described.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary 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,\u201d department press secretary Vianca N. Rodriguez Feliciano told PolitiFact. \u201cHis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Post\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that an HHS spokesperson said Kennedy \u201cwas referring to those that are severely affected by this chronic condition\u201d and that \u201cthis was in no way a general characterization.\u201d<\/p>\n

We took a closer look at the available data and research.<\/p>\n

What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At root, \u201cautism is a difference in how your child\u2019s brain works that shapes how they interact with the world around them,\u201d according to the\u00a0Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. People with autism diagnoses, the clinic says, \u201cmay excel more in certain areas and need more support in other areas compared to their neurotypical peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, autism\u2019s definition and diagnosis has changed.<\/p>\n

In the 1950s and 1960s, \u201cit is very likely that many people with profound autism were misdiagnosed with \u2018mental retardation,\u2019 a term in use at the time, or schizophrenia, while other autistic people probably got no diagnosis at all,\u201d said John J. Pitney Jr., a Claremont McKenna College politics professor, author of the book \u201cThe Politics of Autism: Navigating the Contested Spectrum,\u201d and a father of an autistic son who\u2019s about to graduate from college.<\/p>\n

In more recent decades, the diagnostic criteria for autism have broadened, producing a spectrum ranging from severe impacts to more modest ones. Today\u2019s definition encompasses \u201cindividuals with milder symptoms, stronger language skills, and higher IQs,\u201d said Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America.<\/p>\n

How Common are the More Limiting Forms of Autism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Autism\u2019s expanded definition means a minority of people on the spectrum have the kinds of severe limitations Kennedy cited, though it\u2019s hard to say how many.<\/p>\n

The highest total we found comes from a 2023 federal\u00a0report<\/a>, written by CDC officials and university researchers. It found that 26.7% of 8-year-olds with autism had \u201cprofound\u201d autism, a newly framed (and not universally accepted) definition that included children who were nonverbal, were minimally verbal, or had an IQ below 50. (\u201cAverage\u201d IQ is considered 90 to 109.)<\/p>\n

People with profound autism \u201cwill require lifetime, round-the-clock care,\u201d said Judith Ursitti, co-founder and president of the Profound Autism Alliance, a nonprofit. Ursitti said her 21-year-old son \u201cis not headed towards employment or a career in poetry or baseball. Acknowledging this fact is important, as this population is often excluded from media portrayals and research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other estimates are lower.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A study published in 2024<\/a>,\u00a0by researchers at the University of Utah and Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, looked at 1,368 U.S. children with autism. When parents were asked whether they would characterize their child\u2019s autism as \u201csevere,\u201d 10.1% said yes. Among this group of children with \u201csevere\u201d autism, a minority \u2014 38% \u2014 were classified as having a \u201csevere\u201d intellectual disability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven among those with an intellectual disability, there\u2019s huge variability,\u201d Mandell said. \u201cPeople with Down syndrome have an intellectual disability but often are quite capable and can do all the things RFK points to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CDC published\u00a0data\u00a0in 2020<\/a> showing that 42% of people with autism had an IQ in the average or higher range, and another\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0has found that this figure could be as high as 60%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoe Gross, the director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said limited available data suggests that Kennedy\u2019s characterization is exaggerated.<\/p>\n

Gross, who is on the spectrum herself, said a 2017\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0found that 61% of people on the spectrum who were studied were employed. As for baseball, the Special Olympics, which was founded by Kennedy\u2019s family and includes competitors who are on the spectrum, includes\u00a0softball<\/a>. At least two people who played major league baseball,\u00a0Tarik El-Abour<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jim Eisenreich<\/a>, were public about their autism diagnoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gross said there is no official data on autistic poets, but she was aware of the poet\u00a0DJ Savarese<\/a>, a nonspeaking but highly literate advocate. Gross was also unable to find data on dating, but she said she\u2019s married, and she pointed to the Netflix reality show \u201cLove on the Spectrum<\/a>,\u201d which follows autistic people\u2019s dating lives. It is now in its third season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for not using a toilet unassisted, the 2024 study that analyzed 1,368 U.S. children with autism and found that 10.1% were considered \u201csevere\u201d found that 67% of those in the \u201csevere\u201d category had trouble bathing or dressing, which, if generalizable to the entire autistic population, would be less than 7%. Another\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0found urinary incontinence reported by 12.5% of the autistic people studied and fecal incontinence by 7.9%.<\/p>\n

Eric M. Garcia, who is on the spectrum and who has written the book \u201cWe\u2019re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation,\u201d was covering Kennedy\u2019s remarks as Washington bureau chief of The Independent. Hearing his words \u201cfelt so demoralizing,\u201d Garcia told PolitiFact. \u201cA lot of people will respond by saying, \u2018He didn\u2019t mean autistic people like you.\u2019 But that doesn\u2019t make it any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

PolitiFact staff writer Madison Czopek contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n

This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracted notice \u2014 and in some quarters, outrage \u2014 for remarks about autism, a topic he\u2019s\u00a0clashed\u00a0with scientists about for years. Kennedy held an April 16\u00a0press conference\u00a0pegged to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0report\u00a0that found the\u00a0prevalence\u00a0of autism rising to 1 in 31 among 8-year-olds, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}