It is hard to put into words the feelings I am having right now. When it comes to being an autistic person, I am happy with my diagnosis and my autism. What I am not happy with is easy to identify; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a thorn in the sides of the autistic community. His claims about what does and does not cause autism are causing the community and myself great amounts of stress and worry.
Let me be plain here, Tylenol or acetaminophen do not cause autism. Pregnant women should not have to fear taking these medicines on top of all the other worries they have while being pregnant. Saying that Tylenol causes autism is a dangerous statement to make, it is not clever and it is not hopeful.
I am a autistic person who got diagnosed when I was 14, I am now 33. There is a certain amount of comfort for me in this diagnosis. RFK Jr. stating that Tylenol use in pregnant women causes autism is terrifying to me. When did actual science take a back seat in the department of health? That is a question I have been asking for a while now. I think that the disconnect from science can be easily found in the alt right political movement.
The absence of scientific fact in politics right now is perpetuated by many people in government right now. Namely those of U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and President Donald Trump, as well as Pennsylvania’s own Congressman Lloyd Smucker. With Smucker, I believe his indifference to be credited to his loyalty to Trump, who on the other hand is plagued by his own incompetence and the yes men he has working for him. With Miller, there is a more nuanced issue.
Miller is a part of the alt right machine that the Republican party has now become. Statements made by Miller concern me greatly and this rhetoric that he states has made it easier for people in the country to buy into what RFK Jr. has been saying.
RFK Jr. is incompetent and should not be the health secretary. He is physically unable to be civil during congressional hearings and I have found that he is miserable to interact with if a congressperson disagrees with him. His rhetoric about autism is his main focus. I do not know what his obsession is with autism and I doubt that he knows either. Another issue I have with him being health secretary is that he is not a scientist or a doctor and has no business being the head of the health department for America.
Going back to the effect that RFK Jr. is perpetuating to the autism community, I do not think it is healthy to speculate on the cause without sufficient proof, granted, RFK Jr. has walked back the claim, kind of, that Tylenol causes autism. I do not believe that he believes it either. He left open the thought that Tylenol could cause autism, there is not sufficient proof though according to RFK Jr.
The autism community is scared right now. RFK Jr. is the cause of that fear. I am so tired of the autism community being used to instill fear into the country. I have said it in Snapper articles before, during my undergrad, and I will continue to say it as a graduate student. Having autism is not a death sentence. It can be hard, but I have found, as an autistic person, that it is a life worth living. I am tired of being a scapegoat for politics. RFK Jr. should resign and not a moment too soon.
