Leading Autism Organizations Release Joint Statement on Upholding Scientific Integrity and Supporting the Autism Community April 17, 2025

https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/04/leading-autism-organizations-release-joint-statement-on-upholding-scientific-integrity-and-supporting-the-autism-community/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--yfXSJkOtBGRa7WzQ1BbssEL-8YspDGUtc7409bc9QkdQJ0v-NIAlB9OfNssiNM9O5oPSVnCbbnYdMKvYDp3Qcw41P2g&_hsmi=357740967&utm_content=357740967&utm_source=hs_email Stances on autism are reshaping the advocacy landscape Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s repeated references to the autism “epidemic” and suggestions that it is fueled by an “environmental toxin” have provoked such intense outrage within the autism community that leading advocacy organizations have temporarily cast aside long-standing feuds. More than 20 organizations penned a letter last week that brought together several unlikely bedfellows in the autism advocacy world, including Autism Speaks and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Those organizations’ beef stretches back decades to Autism Speaks’ infamous 2009 ad that compared autism to AIDS, cancer and diabetes. (See the recent graphic on ASAN’s website, titled “Before You Donate to Autism Speaks, Consider the Facts.”) Before You Donate to Autism Speaks, Consider the Facts https://autisticadvocacy.org/considerthefacts/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_J7Wk0fyaYpOnZlF7MA80EjVXjn5Q5U6-kzC1UHTYiZzcusSrPW6u5OKsOft_boSLPmiiWmDBAt3k1opH4bJesCUsw-w&_hsmi=357740967&utm_content=357740967&utm_source=hs_email The signators write that rhetoric suggesting that autism is preventable will only deepen stigma and misunderstanding surrounding an already-marginalized population. It also ignores the robust scientific evidence that autism is mainly genetic. While it’s unclear how long this truce will last, the letter is a clear sign that Kennedy’s policies are changing how the autism community is advocating for itself. — O. Rose Broderick RFK Jr. calls rising autism rate an ‘epidemic.’ Researchers call it a ‘good sign’ Experts attribute the uptick in autism prevalence to better diagnosis and care https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/15/rfk-jr-says-rising-autism-rates-an-epidemic-researchers-disagree/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-94Y-6R8SPFrQ1XtKD2FkJLBGap_ZRxinuMz6Tx0wX2s6apKmCVx4ixJraBMlOaiVZPkTmrOpToRB8ou3DI1KdtIRoREA&_hsmi=357740967&utm_content=357740967&utm_source=hs_email RFK Jr. promises autism answers by September. Prominent researchers and advocates have heard little Nearly two dozen researchers and groups tell STAT they haven’t been approached about the project https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/rfk-jr-cause-of-autism-study-by-september-prominent-scientists-not-involved-so-far/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_o8GvorZPi1b7g0hFwky-ZT2Iba7wuT0di_BDUMwdUzLW4EanUDq89OYcvW-Iu0eptZg2Rom8xTkksbML2nG1sP7ZXrA&_hsmi=357740967&utm_content=357740967&utm_source=hs_email