Most recently the person in charge of the HHS (nutjob RFK Jr) declared that autism “…is an epidemic. Epidemics are not caused by genes–you need an environmental toxin”.

Of course. Because he’s now an expert on autism. Not.

Autism is not an epidemic. It has been around for decades, if not longer. Research of it began in the 1920’s. It only seems more prevalent now because we know so much more about it than we did even forty years ago. Therefore, many who may have once gone undiagnosed due to lack of knowledge or plain ignorance, are now being diagnosed.

Why do you think there are so many adults being diagnosed? Because they have always thought they were different but were never tested as a child. Instead they were just labeled as “shy” and passed through school.

As the mother of a child on the spectrum and a sister of an almost 41-year-old on the spectrum, I can attest to the fact that autism is most definitely caused by genes.

Also, nutjob probably doesn’t realize just how many different kinds of autism there are. And many people with autism have more than one comorbidity, such as ADHD, ADD, OCD, anxiety, sleep issues and social issues, just to name a few. Up until several years ago they were known as different forms (such as Asperger’s) but then everything got lumped under one umbrella. Which was stupid because no two autistics are the same.

But just you wait. Because by September nutjob and his “crew” are going to have all the answers as to why people like my sister have been autistic all her life. Newsflash: she died three times at birth due to a lack of oxygen which was the fault of the medical team that delivered her, causing her to have brain damage and a hydrocephalus shunt for the rest of her life. That’s what attributed to her autism. No toxins were involved. And double newsflash: she hadn’t even been vaccinated yet.

Gee, I wonder if these nuts are going to “discover” a “cure” as well.