Originally published at: RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That. - TPM – Talking Points Memo
This article first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Erin McCanlies was listening to the radio one morning in April when she heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to find the cause of autism by September. The…
So, RFK Jr. was “for it before he was against it?” Much like condoning the claim that DJT should get the Nobel for his Covid vaccine efforts while simultaneously saying the vaccine was a killer?? His brain is severely drug addled. Kick him to the curb NOW!!
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Since Tylenol is the new villain here, it would be nice to know how many members of Congress sold their Kenvue stock (Tylenol was spun off by J&J to Kenvue) in the last few weeks.
Anyhow, no one should be surprised by yesterday’s charade. They announced that they’d find the cause of autism by September, so they had to come up with something, supported by science or not. My question is whether Kenvue has a claim agains RFKJR (not against Trump, who has USSCT-given immunity) for making claims about Tylenol without sufficient evidence?
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Kennedy shut down further research because Kennedy and Trump and their pals can’t sell their own miracle snake-oil cures if the causes are general environmental issues yet to be determined.
The grift is always the only point.
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I am deeply skeptical of any suggestion of a link between neurodiversity and exposure to toxic chemicals. It is almost as offensive thing to suggest. It is almost like suggesting that homosexuality is caused by exposure to chemicals.
The scientists doing this research, research which I am deeply skeptical of, are being shut down by Kennedy in his attempt to replace science with feelings, reason with dogma, compassion with judgment. He doesn’t want an answer, he wants people to agree with him.
This is all deeply offensive. Remember, Kennedy is the moron who thought using the same straw for snorting cocaine was useful because he could somehow harvest the cocaine particles in the straw or something. Science is not something that comes naturally to him, and never has. Reason is not his tool.
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So, Kennedy’s autism quest is like Donnie’s retribution crusade: first identify the perpetrator then find evidence that’ll say they’re in some way guilty.
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It should be obvious that the logical place to look for the causes of autism in children are likely to be found in environmental pollution by heavy metals from the burning of coal, and other man-made substances cited in the article. The classic analogies are lead in gas and in paint and their effects on the developmental issues they have been linked to neurological abnormalities in children.
Wouldn’t be ironic that RFK, Jr.s obvious inability to employ critical thinking skills was related to exposure to lead as a child ? It is not at all inconceivable, but I suspect his life-long addiction to illegal drugs like heroin and other psychotropic substances has more to do with it.
That and the worm that tells him what stupid things to do and to say every night.
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I’m curious why you feel this way, So you’re saying the links that they found are flawed or falsified? Do you feel it should be solely based on genetics so you can blame the parents and grandparents? Has there been a test developed that says “Sorry, you two shouldn’t breed, there’s a chance you’ll have an autistic kid?”
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From Sun Tzu;
“Confusion creates chaos… and chaos creates opportunity”
Maybe the high ranking Dems should stop being confused and think.
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I may not be understanding you correctly, but I am somewhat puzzled by your assertion. I think the case is pretty well made of the connection between exposure to heavy metals like lead and mercury and to aromatic solvents like benzine and neurological disorders.
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I agree - and I had shared this article when it was first released with a friend whose son is autistic. She was adamant there must be an environmental cause - and although she was full on MAGA, she was highly skeptical of RFK and his plans to create a trackable database as well as stating that autistic children were basically wandering zombies, never to have a life of their own.
She came back outraged. She got as far as the first study of 174 children and shut it down. How dare they. What were they thinking!! Perhaps it was just that it was ProPublica. I do’t know but not rational at all, since it was saying exactly what she had been looking for.
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Finding a solution and selling the solution to a public audience are different and separate efforts.
Scam artists have always leveraged this point.
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When I learned my son is autistic, I had trouble believing it, because all of the characteristics that were said to be because of autism, these are characteristics I’ve always had in my own life. Based on the diagnosis and the diagnostic criteria that I have seen, I clearly have autism.
So, of course I’m going to lean on genetic, but it’s more than that. For me, autism describes the way my brain works, and that is core to my identity. It isn’t a disability, although sometimes it does impact my life negatively, anymore than homosexuality is a disability.
Nothing conclusive has ever been found linking any environmental toxin to neurodiversity, whereas the genetic links are overwhelming.
So I guess to come full circle, my problem with this research isn’t the research itself, it’s the concept that autism needs to be cured. It’s the concept that people need to change how they think.
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Interesting. Not what I was thinking at all, but the fact that genetics immediately went to eugenics in your mind is interesting to me.
The reason that I don’t think that autism is caused by environmental toxins is the same reason that I don’t think homosexuality is caused by environmental toxins.
Are those same toxins the cause for homosexuality?
Thanks for the clarification.
I agree with you.
A connection between environmental causes and what is defined as ‘autism’ has to be demonstrated. It can not be assumed.
Similarly, that ‘autism’ is outside the normal range of human variation can not be assumed.
It seems perfectly plausible that it is something that needs to be accepted, not cured.
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Nope. Homosexuality has been with us since the dawn of time. It is a “natural” variation and it is not limited to homo sapiens.
Autism appears to be a problem in fetal and childhood neurological development. I think an environmental causation is very possible, but NOT from vaccines or Tylenol. The levels of man-made toxins in the environment are at all-time highs, and have resulted in an increase in auto-immune diseases among other adverse outcomes.
My point is that while autism could well have an environmental cause, the research to identify what it is poorly funded, even though the evidence that vaccines or Tylenol ARE NOT the cause is pretty convincing.
Further, the Trump administration appears to have zero interest in using the EPA to crack down on polluters that may indeed be poisoning us all, but has no problem blaming health providers for causing a disease they are actually trying to diagnose, treat, and prevent. Proof, once again, that “no good deed goes unpunished”.
I’m going to respond very simply and say that I fundamentally disagree, and your comment and your approach to people like me and my family offends me deeply.
Autism has been with us since the dawn of time, it is a natural variation, and it is not limited to homo sapiens. Suggesting otherwise is simply hate speech.
Again, I think you mean well, but it is deeply offensive.
My son is autistic and has Asperger’s syndrome. He is a high functioning autistic, but he is often frustrated by his “difference” and miserable. I do not take lightly, the notion that it might be a natural variation, but I do not think it is comparable to homosexuality.
The causation of autism is unknown. If there were a “cure” for his condition, both he and his parents would be grateful for it.
Finding a cure requires finding a causation. Perhaps it is simply a random variation in the development of the brain. I don’t know, but for most parents and most autistic children, it is a burden.
Whereas my children, all of which are autistic, have no desire for a cure, and neither do I for my autism. Is it a burden? Absolutely. But it’s also part of what makes us who we are. Being short can be a burden, being tall can be a burden, being predisposed to being overweight can be a burden, but none of these things should be rejected, all of these things should be celebrated as part of who we are.
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