The Lie About Autism That Just Won't Die
The real epidemic is weaponized ignorance and the misinformation it perpetuates.
Let’s talk about RFK Jr. and the dangerous rhetoric he keeps reviving.
In case you missed the needle in this dumpster fire of a haystack last week, RFK Jr. has publicly claimed that by September, he’ll reveal the “truth” about what’s causing the so-called “autism epidemic.”
And just in case you’re unfamiliar, here’s how that translates: yet another self-serving, conspiratorial deep dive into debunked anti-vax bullshit.
No, he’s not bringing new evidence to light—he’s recycling the same manipulative pseudoscience he’s been flinging at anyone who will listen for decades.
Whether he genuinely believes this garbage or not is beside the point. His words and actions are despicable, damaging, and false. He is not on a quest for truth.
Kennedy is spreading a tired lie—loudly, obsessively, and at the expense of real autistic people who live every day with the stigma he helps create.
Let’s be explicitly clear: every pillar of his crusade has already collapsed under the weight of actual research, global scientific consensus, and real-world data. The vaccine-autism myth is not controversial—it is wrong. Categorically. Empirically. Logically. Repeatedly.
And yet, Kennedy barrels ahead, undeterred by facts, uninterested in nuance, unwilling to listen to the very people he claims to speak for.
Again, let’s make this crystal clear: actual autistic people have never been the focus of his concern—only pawns in a story built on fear, ego, and willful ignorance.
And yeah, I’m angry.
Because this isn’t just about scientific misinformation—it’s about people with power using our lives and identities as rhetorical props in their fantasy narratives.
It’s about watching hard-won progress toward understanding, acceptance, and accessibility get dragged backward by people who don’t have the slightest fucking clue what they’re talking about—much less care—so long as it serves their agenda.
It’s about the very real harm they inflict on actually autistic people and our families, and the cruelty of dressing that harm up as “concern.”
Kennedy has made autism his personal scapegoat for over twenty years. He talks about “causes” while ignoring autistic voices entirely. He paints us as collateral damage, a problem to be solved, a tragedy to be undone.
And in doing so, he fuels stigma, reinforces misinformation, and actively undermines public health.
Trump, of course, pours gas on this fire with offhand, ignorant comments like “I know a kid who got the shot and changed overnight.” It’s reckless, baseless—and entirely unsurprising. But worse—it’s loud. And that’s all it takes to keep the lie alive.
He doesn’t care to understand anything about autism or vaccines, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt. He just knows fear sells—and facts get in the way.
What makes people like Kennedy and Trump especially dangerous isn’t just the bad information—it’s the platforms they wield and the authority they pretend to have.
Kennedy speaks in the language of science while dismantling its foundations. He postures as a truth-teller while refusing to engage with truth.
He paints himself as a whistleblower, but he’s just a man with a microphone and a grudge—against medicine, against vaccines, and ultimately against the existence of autistic people as we actually are.
Now, to those reading this who think they understand autism based on a few news stories, some viral TikToks, a struggling nephew, or an infantilizing 90s performative MacGuffin: I ask you—genuinely—are you sure?
Are you holding onto a distorted image built on stereotypes, on deficit framing, on a system that still treats difference as disorder?
Are you willing to admit you simply don’t know?
Because I am autistic. Every day of my life. And while that doesn’t give me authority to speak for all autistic people, what I can tell you is that the truth about what it means to be autistic is deeper, richer, more human, and far more misrepresented than you might think.
You’ve been misled. And that’s not your fault.
But it is your responsibility to question it.
And it’s okay if you didn’t know.
What’s not okay is clinging to harmful misinformation to protect your pride.
Honestly, part of me would love to see Kennedy, Trump, and every single member of this “autism epidemic” brigade put through a full autism assessment—not as punishment, but as exposure.
Because the irony is hard to miss. The traits they pathologize are the very ones they project without reflection. Rigidity. Black-and-white thinking. Obsessive conviction. A total lack of empathy and an inability to consider perspectives beyond their own.
But we’re the ones being framed as deficient.
And let’s be real—this isn’t just about autism.
These are the same people who have dismissed, distorted, and dehumanized countless other marginalized groups.
The same people who speak with authority over lives they’ve never tried to understand. Who rewrite suffering into narrative tools, reduce identities into caricatures, and silence voices they don’t find convenient.
My anger isn’t just personal—it’s collective.
It’s about the people who keep getting erased, rewritten, and misrepresented by those who refuse to listen.
These people aren’t just ignorant—they’re allergic to integrity.
This isn’t advocacy. It’s an ego-fueled crusade of bullshit—and frankly, I have no idea how to stop it.
But I’m sure as hell not going to shut up about it. ∞