Blog 9: The Infuriating Example of Today's Perception

Hi everyone! This week, I focused on cutting down evidence that I didn’t need for my paper, drafting my own responses to my questions, and getting started on the first draft of my paper. Additionally, I also read some articles on a recent conference that Robert F. Kennedy has spoken at, and what he has to say is a bit infuriating… in my humble opinion!

To briefly summarize, RFK believes that autism is a type of illness due to the “epidemic” of children being diagnosed with autism. He aims to work with the NIH to collect and analyze our populations’ health records and discover the “environmental toxin [that] is to blame” (Stein and Worth) to identify the cause of autism. As I read through multiple articles of his conference, I find them incredibly frustrating, but when I take a step back to reflect on what I’ve learned and what I see currently, I can see a lot of the ideologies that I’ve read about reflected in RFK as he gives his opinion on autism. 

RFK’s view on autism as an illness reflects the influence of the medical model on society, treating anything that isn’t socially normal as a disease or illness that must and can be cured. But why would RFK think that, especially as many professionals claim that the “epidemic” of autistic children is due to the fact that our society is getting better at recognizing the signs and diagnosing children from an early age? RFK takes advantage of the gap that there isn’t much science and genetics supporting the reason why autism develops in some people and not in others. Additionally, he probably looks back at the past and sees that there were less people diagnosed with autism, and thinks that whatever we did in the past was helpful in “mitigating” autism (which is so untrue), which is why he is investigating “environmental toxins” that could be to blame. 

When describing autistic children and what they cannot do (e.g. unable to throw a baseball, go to the bathroom on their own, etc.), it’s so frustrating to hear how RFK completely invalidates the whole autism community and throws all autistic people into this one stereotype. Again, autism is a spectrum, and nobody is going to be the same: some autistic individuals may be able to do certain things that maybe others on the spectrum cannot do, and it shows that generalization can do more harm than good. This mindset reflects the neoliberalism view, as he seems to only see autistic individuals who are incapable of fitting in and unable to function in society on their own. Additionally, there are cuts to Medicaid and closing of Administration for Community Living, two programs that specifically assist those with autism. Neoliberalism showing through at its finest. 

However, even with all this thinking, I don’t think I can understand how RFK comes to the conclusions that he does, even with professionals opposing his statement. There is so much nuance from everything he said at the conference, down to his main supporters, and it is so interesting to see how many of the ideologies that I’ve read about are becoming more prominent in society (especially after this conference). I think RFK’ conference will become an example in my paper of how some people in modern day perceive autistic individuals. 

Thank you for reading, and until next week!

Sources: 

• https://apnews.com/article/rfk-vaccines-autism-measles-obesity-food-dye-f26089856550e978d28fd25b653d8103
• https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366676/autism-cdc-rates-rfk-research
• https://www.axios.com/2025/04/23/autism-registry-rfk-nih
• https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/nx-s1-5372695/autism-nih-rfk-medical-records
• https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/rfk-jr-autism-registry-trump-google-ice-hegseth-rcna202393