WASHINGTON, D.C. – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to prioritize research into “environmental toxins” he claimed are responsible for the rising rate of autism diagnoses in American children during a news conference Wednesday, spreading dubious claims about autism and the people living with it that scientists and experts say don't align with the reality of the condition.
Kennedy said he hoped to announce details about the series of new studies within the next two weeks and expected to have “some of the answers” by September. The commitment reiterated remarks he made during a Cabinet meeting last week about a “massive testing and research effort” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services into the cause of autism.
"These are kids who will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted," Kennedy said, despite many autistic people being capable of doing all of those things.
Advocates have previously called these assertions by the Health Secretary harmful and misleading, while health experts have pointed to research that has linked genetic factors to autism. Cases range widely in severity, with symptoms that can include delays in language, learning, and social or emotional skills. Some autistic traits can go unnoticed well into adulthood.
Wednesday's briefing – the first held by Kennedy since his confirmation – focused on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Tuesday that found the prevalence and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among 8-year-old children in 2022 had increased to one in 31, based on statistics collected from 16 locations. Previous data found the rate to be one in 36 in 2020 and one in 150 in 2000.
“This is part of an unrelenting upward trend,” Kennedy said.
Autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain, and impacts how people learn, communicate and behave. There are wide variations in signs, symptoms and levels of support needed by those diagnosed.
Data for the CDC's recent report was collected by the center’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network from 14 states and Puerto Rico. Two of the locations were in Texas – Laredo and Austin.
The reporting found that boys were more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls, and diagnoses were more common among Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, Black and multiracial children.
Rates also varied widely across the locations, and researchers noted that this could be “due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.”
The Health Secretary called the results of the recent CDC study “shocking” and insisted that only some of the increase from previous years could be attributed to better recognition of autism, the expansion of diagnostic tools and increased access to care.
He promised to make future “updated, real-time data” about autism available for review by the public.
Kennedy also repeatedly called autism an “epidemic” and a “disease” – terms that many health experts and those in the autism community reject – and blamed “environmental toxins” as the cause.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, did not specifically mention the discredited theory that childhood vaccinations cause autism during Wednesday’s news conference, but claimed that “our air, our water, or our medicines, our food” could be behind the increase. While taking questions, he said that future studies would look at factors, including mold, food additives, pesticides, air, water, medicines, the age of parents, ultrasounds and diabetes and obesity rates.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it is environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. They can provide a vulnerability but you need an environmental toxin,” he said.
However, the CDC says that some people with autism spectrum disorder have a genetic condition, while other causes are unknown.
Autism advocates pushed back on Kennedy’s remarks Wednesday.
“While there is no singular cause of autism, current evidence points to a combination of genetic, biological, and environmental factors,” Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society, a non-profit advocacy and research group, said in a statement. “Claims that autism is “preventable” or definitively caused by "environmental toxins" are not supported by current research.”
He said that continued research into all potential contributors is needed but called for the federal government to engage directly with autistic people, advocacy groups and experts in shaping policy.
Previously, Banks said Kennedy’s pledge to identify factors and “ eliminate those exposures” within a few months was “harmful, misleading, and unrealistic.”
In an interview over the weekend with CBS’ Face the Nation, Dr. Peter Marks, who recently resigned as the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, was asked about Kennedy’s five-month timeline.
“If you just ask me, as a scientist, is it possible to get the answer that quickly? I don't see any possible way,” Marks said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.