RFK Jr. and Autism
Everything about his statement in the cabinet meeting sends up red flags.
Thursday, April 10, at a public cabinet meeting, RFK Jr announced that the HHS would find the cause of Autism and potentially cure it. Instantly, red flags went up in my head. I am autistic; I was diagnosed at age 31. I have autistic children, who are now fully grown adults and thriving. I’ve been following the research, advancement, and theories for over a decade. I have my own theories based on my research. Over the years, I’ve seen heinous things done to autistic kids in the name of a cure. So when someone in the government claims that they will find a cure, they have my full attention.
At the cabinet meeting, RFK Jr proclaimed that autism rates are up from 1 in 10k when he was young (He’s 71) to 1 in 31 today. Under his direction, the HHS will start a massive study: “We’ve launched massive testing and research effort involving hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what has caused the Autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” First of all, it is impossible to conduct a study of that magnitude in that short of time and expect good results. Also, it sounds an awful lot like he’s already decided that autism is caused by exposure to something. He has already ordered the CDC to look into vaccines as a potential cause (more on that later). I’m always cautious about studies done by someone who has a predetermined idea of what they want the result to be, and I’m not the only one.
But then, Trump praised RFK Jr. for his idea and said, “There’s got be something artificial out there that’s doing this.” Then he stated that it would be a big deal if RFK Jr. could deliver results, “where, if you stop taking something, stop eating something, or maybe it’s a shot, but something’s causing it.”
If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. Because the autism spectrum is so wide, there are no two autistic people who experience life the same. That is a large part of the problem with figuring out a root cause.
Experts say that the dramatic increase in autism can be chalked up to better diagnostics. Personally, I think that is partly true. I believe there is an element of vaccine injury misdiagnosed as autism as well. There are too many anecdotal stories of kids who were perfectly fine until a round of vaccinations turned them autistic to think otherwise. Because vaccines are generally time-tested and proven safe, doctors aren’t trained to recognize when someone gets injured by them. However, those stories make up a relatively small segment of the autistic population.
I also believe that, much like ADD in the ‘90s, autism is the new catch-all diagnosis. The former chair of the APA agrees with me. Autism is challenging to diagnose considering that the spectrum covers everything from the profoundly autistic - the ones who are completely non-verbal and basically sit in a corner and rock - to what used to be called Asperger’s syndrome, folks like me who are very verbal and can integrate fairly well into society with several coping strategies. Because early intervention with behavioral therapy is helpful for integration into society, the American Academy of Pediatrics has been screening toddlers since 2007.
It is estimated that somewhere between 80-90% of all cases of autism are genetic. However, no one gene can be identified as a cause; instead, there are a large number of genes that seem to play a role. So far, science has found a gene that appears to explain the differences between autistic traits in males and females. Another large study of families with autism identified seven different genes that may be involved. Other studies have identified large genomic regions and over 100 potential genetic mutations that appear to contribute to autism.
There is a conversation to be had about environmental factors like air pollution, maternal health, and even drugs used during pregnancy that affect gene expression and seem to cause some cases of autism. Some studies prove that drugs can alter a person’s genetic expression. There is evidence that addiction is hereditary, and a parent’s prolonged drug or alcohol use can affect their child’s potential intelligence. There is even a French study of how a specific drug given to a generation of women for pregnancy complications caused a genetic mutation that gave the men in the family a particular birth defect several generations later. However, there have not been many studies on how vaccinations affect the human genome, especially in infants, or over generations. One study that was done in 2020 showed that combining the Meningococcal B Vaccine with other vaccines increased the expression of a certain gene, which elevated the risk of the infant developing a fever as opposed to getting the shot on its own.
Of course, we have to talk about the elephant in the room. In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a study that claimed the MMR vaccine, and specifically the thimerosal in the vaccine, was the cause of autism. However, his study had several major issues, the biggest one being the sample size. Wakefield’s study looked at TWELVE children, and claimed to draw a conclusion that affected the entire population. Also, Wakefield fell into the correlation equals causation trap. When his study was disproven over and over, and the flaws laid bare, he responded by doubling down. Ten of the eleven people who worked on the study with him (yes, there were as many authors as there were study subjects) later recanted. He eventually left Europe and set up shop in the US, where scared parents were willing to grab hold of any crumb of hope he gave them. Whenever someone tried to tell them that Wakefield was nothing more than a snake oil salesman, they responded that he had told the truth, and Big Pharma was out to destroy him. While that sounds familiar, there is, to this date, zero evidence to back up his severely flawed study. An objective study that looked into vaccines and their effect on genetic expression would be great, but we aren’t likely to get that out of the team being put together by RFKj.
RFK Jr.’s anti-vaxxer past is well known. So, when he says things that make it seem like he’s already decided the outcome of the autism study, it’s concerning. However, those concerns can be allayed if he picks a neutral party to run the study. Unfortunately, that is not what we got.
The man RFK Jr. has tapped to lead this new HHS study is David Geier, an absolute charlatan. He was busted for practicing medicine without a license, primarily on autistic kids. I urge everyone to read the overview of the medical board charges against him in Maryland. He's an anti-vaxxer who put autistic kids on Lupron - a cancer drug that doubles as a puberty blocker.
According to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, this man should be nowhere near any autistic study, and I concur. The things David and his father, Dr. Mark Geier, did to innocent kids and their parents who were just looking for answers - high doses of Lupron, chelation - which is ONLY authorized to treat heavy metal poisoning NOT autism, and more. The torture they put those innocent kids and their parents through. And yes, the parents hold some responsibility for not seeing all the red flags, but I understand where they were coming from. They had what they thought was a doctor telling them that their kid's autism could be fixed if they just followed the protocol. I can fully understand why some parents would do anything to fix their child who seems so broken. When a man who portrays himself as a trusted doctor and autism expert tells you to do this to cure your kid, you do it. But this guy wasn't a doctor; he was just pretending to be while using his dad's medical license to order labs and drugs. This man is pure evil. And this is who RFK Jr. put in charge of the autism study. Are you kidding me?
Yes, we need a study done, one that includes the possibility of vaccine injury as a potential complicating factor - but we need one that will be done ethically, not one that is done by people who have already decided on the outcome and just want to look for evidence to prove it.
Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative currently stuck in a very blue state.
A compelling argument for questioning the direction of the announced study, especially considering your stated bona fides. I'll be sharing this post to Meta and X.
Good read LY - nice work!