RFK Jr. proves he knows nothing about autism

[ihaveaquestion]

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[spooky3]

1. That was great! Thanks nt

[womanofthehills]

6. I disagree - it's a spectrum and thousand is kids are on the bottom

Here is the other side of the story.

“Our child can’t speak in full sentences. Needs round-the-clock supervision. Has dangerous behaviors. Isn’t fully potty trained; we change a diaper every morning. This isn’t about tech jobs or representation in media. It’s about safety. It’s about survival.”

Link to tweet

?s=46&t=YZgyyp4w_z7vW3neKxa6cQ

[spooky3]

7. As someone with a relative with autism, I'm aware of that.

It doesn’t take away from the point the comedian made.

[MineralMan]

2. Just one example of the many things about which he knows nothing.

He is an embarrassment to the Kennedy family.

[womanofthehills]

3. Thousands of kids with autism are non verbal

Like Gabe here. His mom has a TicToc page to follow Gabe These kids will never live independently. Go online and see images of all the autistic kids harming themselves, spinning, yelling crying -parents want answers

https://youtube.com/shorts/ypZiVqYKC3w?si=TxxZvawUZnIzz9c6

https://youtube.com/shorts/_v0sN56WcT8?si=T_iuIOPGd3zVw9nq

As some get older - it becomes a problem for some families.

Link to tweet

[MineralMan]

4. And millions are not.

Autism is a challenge. No question about that. It is not always destructive, however. It can be managed in most cases. Down Syndrome is also a challenge. And yet, families deal with it every day, while loving their Down Syndrome child.

RFK, Jr. spoke in generalities. He was wrong to do so.

[alarimer]

5. That may be true, but Kennedy sounds like they should just die.

All of his rhetoric about autistic people and the disabled in general is basically eugenics. Anyone who isn't "productive" is a useless taker. Which probably also includes old people.

So maybe we could find the "cause" of autism. What then? This is an ethical minefield and I'm pretty sure Kennedy doesn't have the answers. What WOULD be an answer or at least a practical solution of sorts is financial and medical support for these people and their families. But if course Kennedy doesn't want those kinda of solutions. He'd rather try to blame it on vaccines so we can all die of measles or something.

[spooky3]

8. But Kennedy didn't say "some people with autism." He

Spoke as if all people with autism were at the same low point on the spectrum. They aren’t.

If one doesn’t have an accurate view of the problem(s), their solution(s) will be ineffective or suboptimal.

[Kali]

9. the word epidemic in the text into for that video

is highly suspicious. that is the language of the antivax crowd like the asshole in question, desperately trying to blame anything on vaccinations.

[dalton99a]

10. RFK Jr. is an utterly worthless piece of shit.

[womanofthehills]

12. There is now a huge community of moms with severely autistic kids

I really dislike Kennedys pro Israel views but I think he’s doing a good thing to research autism & toxic metals as there as so many research papers making connections.

Looking for environmental reasons for autism is a good thing if it can save millions of kids from becoming autistic.

This is one of lots of new studies of metals entering the brain.

“Association of autism with toxic metals: A systematic review of case-control studie.”

Abstract

“Environmental factors have been associated with the etiology of autism spectrum disorder ASD in recent times. The involvement of toxic metals in the generation of reactive oxygen species and their epigenetics effects have been implicated in ASD”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34896416/

Lots of similar studies on net.

[ShazzieB]

13. The point is that autism is a *spectrum.*

The full name is Autism Spectrum Disorder. Talking in the kind of generalities RFK Jr was using, as if all people with the disorder are exactly alike in their level of functioning and their potential, doesn't do anyone any favors.

RFK Jr's persomal hobby horse is vaccinations. He believes childhood vaccinations (at least some of them) can cause autism, a theory that has been thoroughly discredited by researchers. He uses the kind of extreme language he used here to convince people not to get their kids vaccinated. Imo, that means he is the purveyor of dangerous misinforation, and that kind of person should never be in such an influential position as Secretary of HHS.